Pre-Paintheon Games @CrowsNest

Well since the great #HIMs that frequent the #CrowsNest were probably not going to make the trip to the Badgers Den for logistical challenges I felt it was my duty as a #HIM in training to give it away. Full disclosure I am a huge fan of the stupidness that is the Paintheon Games and use it as a gauge to determine if I’m an accelerating man.
Arrived early for 1 mile route recon and to mark off 100 yard bearcrawl event. After a proper disclosure was given by YHC it was time for the PAX to sign in. TClaps to my shorties for the use of the huge box of sidewalk chalk they let me borrow. Each PAX wrote their name on the pavement in first column while YHC wrote the event names across the top, great mumble chatter followed. The events were performed in order listed until time was called. VERY proud of the effort these fine men put forth and very grateful for the opportunity to lead. For full description of event rules and scoring search for the backblast from ZIMA.
Summary of results shown below:

Event
MerkinsAMRAP2min
BBSUpsAMRAP2min
BurpAMRAP2min.
100yrdBearCrawl
1 mile Sprint.
B2TW

GREAT JOB Gents see you back in 6 months.
OLAF

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The runners take on Pantheon

Thanks to Gears for putting the word out and doing some quality marketing for a rare Bootcamp Q by YHC, and an equally rare BC participation from Gears & Zima.  As I waited in the gloom, the cars kept coming in.

Circled up, disclaimer was given and the 3 runners took off and the rest of us moseyed around the parking lot for a nice warm-up.

COP – SSH, IW, Low slow squat, Merkins, Mountain Climber, Peter Parker

Mosey to the bottom of Hubert Graham hill for a little BLIMPS.  Run to the top -5 Burpees, back down for 10 Lunges(each leg), back up for 15 IW, Down again for 20 Merkins, up again for 25 Plank Jacks, last trip down for 30 Squats.  Mosey back to school parking lot for a round of 11.  Start on the curb for 1 Mike Tyson(look it up) Bear crawl across parking lot for 10 Hello Dolly(in honor of Carol Channing RIP) jog back for 2 Mike Tyson, and so on and so on. The Mike Tysons were a real crowd pleaser, especially with the runners.

Another Mosey around the parking lot, with an AYG to finish at COT just in time for some Mary.

All in all a great morning, awesome to see some faces I hadn’t seen in a while, and it’s always fun to have Olaf around.  Thanks to Royale for making the long trip over the bridge to join us.

Announcements – Q-Source, Joe Davis, Special Honey Badger workout on Monday, and of course The Yeti!

Quick discussion on the Word of the Year, a few guys shared their word and why it was chosen

Prayers & Praises – Mile High is thankful for coming out for 6 months and the change it has made in his life. Prayers for sick friends & family members as well as injured Pax.

 

 

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12 days (actually 13) to celebrate a shovel flag handoff!

Big shovel flag hand-off day so hype train was in full effect!  As PAX walked up to the gathering, Bear Grylls had 80s hairband music rocking why he was making preparations for post-workout coffeeteria.  YHC gave the disclaimer and jumped on a quick mosey given this chilly morning.  Mosey’d over to parking lot to the right of the school where we circled up for some warm up exercises and stretching.

Exercises included: SSH, Moroccan night clubs, low slow squats, hillbilly walkers, mountain climbers and then some leg, back and “6” stretches.

Mosey’d over to the playground in the back of the school for The Thang!  In true 12 days (actually 13) days of Christmas fashion, we had a weinke waiting for us and 12 days was explained by YHC.  For anyone reading and unclear on 12 days, start with 1, move on to 2 and back down to 1, go to 3 then 2 then 1, and so on.

As the list was next to the basketball court, since that’s where there was light on this chilly dark morning in the gloom, we started with suicides…

  1. Suicides – mid court, full court
  2. Burpees
  3. Calve raises – 3 out, 3 regular, 3 in
  4. Pull ups
  5. Hand release merkins
  6. Jump Knee tucks
  7. Flutters (double count)
  8. Bear crawl down & crawl bear back – full court
  9. Gorilla squats
  10. B 2 Wall – 10 sec count
  11. Lunge walk down & duck walk back – full court
  12. America Hammer (double) + LBC (double) + big boys
  13. Bomb Jacks (bonus)

The PAX made it to about day 10-11, with I believe Fish Sticks leading everyone possibly to day 12.  The killer in this had to be day 8 but YHC quickly reminded the PAX that Spiderman (yes, he got a shoutout) who had 12 days at #BlockParty the day before crushed the PAX with Bear crawl / crawl bear on day 2….so a quick fix for the mumble chatter.  Once time was called, mosey’d back for COT.

Announcements, prayers and praises (CSPAN style).  YHC shared that as we enter the Christmas season, after just leaving Thanksgiving, giving Thanks has been at the forefront of his mind.  Being grateful for what we have, i.e. families, health, each other, it’s easy to forget how some people are not in the same positions we are in.  As we enter the holiday season, and even after the holidays, keeping a watchful eye for how we can help others less fortunate than us, puts us in a unique position.  How you choose to act in those situations or if you have your eyes and heart open, is something to be mindful of.

Closed out with prayer and the celebration of the great work Fish Sticks brought to Pantheon and the beginning of the Bear Grylls legacy.  The beginning of this legacy kicked off with the Pantheon flag makeover – which was great to see!  I highly recommend checking it out and getting the full breakdown for each detail.  It was a pleasure Q’ing today and am happy to do it anytime!

Shady

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Constantly Moving Through The Swamp

It is always a pleasure to get the “call” to the lead the PAX  and this opportunity didn’t disappoint.  The Swamp is my “home” Friday AO so I was well aware of all the nooks and crannies it had to offer.

After a separating ourselves from the droves of men with backpacks (12 of them) I gave the usual disclaimer explaining that these men were there at their own risk and that the only thing I could promise is that they would return “stronger” than they set out.  I also explained that we would be “moving” the entire time so ‘buckle up’ and enjoy the tour.

Quick 3/4 mile mosey around Home Depot to the Khol’s parking lot.  Along the way we did some active stretching including butt kickers and high knees.  Warm up included several exercises to warm the muscles up such as:

  • Windmill
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Potato Pickers
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Right/Left leg over opposite leg with body twist (on our 6)
  • Downward Dog
  • Honeymooner
  • Side Straddle Hops

Quick mosey 100 yards —- 50 Slow Low Squats

Bear Crawl 50 yards

25 yard mosey

Merkins:

  • 30 Regular
  • 20 Wide Arm
  • 15 Ranger
  • 10 Diamond

Crawl Bear 50 yards

Mosey to Verizon: 50 Moroccan Night Club (Jedi wasn’t amused)

Mosey to “alley” behind Home Depot:

Wall sits while one PAX goes out and does 10 Berpees

Lunge Walking (down alleyway)

  • Varying steps (3-10) then exercise:
  • Merkins
  • Squat Jumps
  • Burpees
  • 10 Squat Jumps (to cap it off)

Mosey toward COT

Halfway stop for 10 more Burpees

Almost there……but first one last Suicide to really gas ourselves.

We finished strong and as I promised every man came back to COT stronger than he had left.  We reconnected with our backpack brothers and lifted some prayers and praises up.  In total 19 men got better (12 Ruckers and 7 Bootcampers)

Bones

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300 and more at Alcatraz

Two of the Fort Mill famous Run and Gun Musketeers led Saturday’s Alcatraz workout.  One, Mainframe, has been a solid, regular poster and another, Bolt, has been fartsacking too much and turning into a Kotter Q (only posting when Q’ing). Bolt arrived early to lay out his goodies.

Solid plan in hand from both. Mainframe led out testing everyone’s stamina.

Started with a lap around park then back to parking lot for normal starters – Windmills, Hillbilly Walkers, SSHs, Merkins, Mountain Climbers, and MNCs.

Warm-ups done, onto the “300”. Pretty simple concept, 10 exercises, 30 reps each. The focus was on legs and abs. The plan was to run suicides after every 2 exercises. 3 line suicide with 10 seal jacks at each line.

Exercises for the 300 were: Smurf Jacks, Flutters, Bomb Jacks, Tiny Os (15 each way), Plank Jacks, Big Boy Sit-ups, Jump Squats, Box Cutters, Monkey Humpers, & Hello Dollies. We had to skip the suicides between the last set in order to stay in the :30 time window. (It’s amazing how we get used to 20 reps on most exercises… so pushing past for another 10 can really bring about the mumble-chatter).

Bolt took over with sandbag mania , duct tape wonders at 4 of 6 stations. Pairs went to each station and did work during a time frame of about 2 minutes. The actual time was determined by the pair of PAX either carrying sandbags down the parking lot with burpee stops and/or the pair of PAX working and dragging the 140# Worm sandbag across the field and back. (trust me, that sucked). After each performance, met in the middle for some ab work, then broke out back to the stations.

The 6 stations were: sandbag carry with at least 3 burpee stops, sandbag American hammers, playground hang (as long as you can), 10# sandbag each hand or cinderblock burpees, Worm drag, Balls to the Wall.

Implementing individual stations, it should be noted, has it’s positives and negatives. It can offer some creativity. It allows for PAX to workout at their own pace. If paired, builds comraderie. But the Q has to be aware that he is no longer “directly leading”.  PAX may not push at the stations as much as if the Q was leading. Q’s should make sure they are mixing up their Q’s over time.

As a write this BB, I can tell you I am really sore in the thighs and lower back. Pushing up the rep count will do that and should be done periodically. Mixing in something unusual like a 140# Worm pull will definitely work new muscles.

Thanks to PAX for their effort. Had some good mumblechatter. It was highly unusual, but this Alcatraz stayed in the parking lot for the full hour. I’m pretty sure that won’t happen again. It was great meeting again some new PAX. Keep posting and Q!!! Thanks to PAX for helping Bolt cleanup.

COT –

Decibel requesting support with the breakdown of Badger’s business. This is what F3 is all about. Support your brothers, do what you can.

Cornerstone still collecting bandaids for the Children’s Home. Xmas party was same today, now happened, and looked like a very good time. Join Bolt in Paradise every Saturday 3:00 pm to workout and interact with the kids of the community. Volunteer at the afterschool tutoring and homework at Bethlehem Baptist every Monday and Wednesday 3:00 pm.

Bolt spoke of his fartsacking  and thanks Jekyl for the kind words about his involvement in the Paradise community. PAX, always speak up about your brothers and the good things they do.

Mainframe took us out. PAX met at DD for some F2.

 

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Big 50 Birthday bash

Today was my 50th Birthday and Maximus allowed me to lead a Beyond so that I could take some extra time to discuss somethings that I have been pondering as I approached this milestone birthday.  To go along with our monthly theme of Vulnerable I took the opportunity to share some struggles as well.  With that we moseyed.

Warm up of SSH, Imperial walkers, Squats, Mountain Climbers, Merkins, and Plank Jacks

Moseyed to Rite Aid parking lot(some chatter about too much running, but I ignored it).

Sharing time #1 – Shared with the Pax that I feel like 30 year old me would have thought that 50 year old me would be “further along”.  Further along Professionally and Financially, Further along Spiritually and in Family.  In 2001 I was recruited to Charlotte for a position with a new company, for a salary that I thought would be my ticket ahead.  I had great plans that I could do this for a bunch of years, make a bunch of money and then I could check out and go do something that I wanted to do , maybe full time ministry or teaching.  Within 1 year it all blew up, I was demoted for not doing a good job, salary was slashed plans were gone.  17 years later we’re still feeling the affects.

First circuit – Partner up – Partner 1 does People’s Chair Partner 2 does a lap, then flip it.  Next Partner 1 does Plank, Partner 2 does a lap, flip it.  Next Partners do 100 Merkins as a team, 1 runs I does Merkins, flip it.

Sharing time 2 – Felt like I would be further along spiritually.  30 year old me would have thought I would have gotten past my need for man’s approval.  I would have thought that the sins that tripped me up back then would be conquered and pride & lust would no longer be an issue foe me, but they are still there.  Felt like I would be further along in family & parenting. My plan was to be an empty nester at this point, but here I am with a 7th and 9th grader still at home, and t top it off I’m not particularly better at parenting then I was when I 30.

Circuit #2 Partner again – Lap #1 Partner 1 does Al Gore Partner #2 does a lap.  Lap #2  Partner 1 does Flutters Partner 2 does a lap.  Lap #2 Team does 100 Big Boy Sit ups total while 1 partner runs.

Sharing time 3 – The truth is that when I look at my life with clear eyes I can see that my life has been Blessed beyond measure!  I have a job that I mostly enjoy, and work with great people(shout out to Royale) and I am well compensated.  I have a beautiful wife of 26 years and we have a great marriage that keeps getting better.  I have 5 awesome kids who are healthy and bring me great joy, and sometimes frustration.  To add to it I have found this thing called F3 and a group of friends and Brothers that I never even knew I needed!  To see my 50 year old life s anything but blessed is ridiculous.

Off to COT for 2 minutes of Mary

Final share – What I have found is that the only times that I get down about where I am at 50 is when I look around me at others and I compare myself to what  my perception of them is.  This can lead to pride but for me it mostly leads to despair.  What I am trying to learn is contentment as Paul describes it in Phil. 4, whether he had much or little Paul was content.  The source of this contentment is found in Phil. 3 where Paul shares that all of his achievements, any possession he may have or any legacy he may be able to boast about , all of is it is worthless, or as he calls is a big pile of manure, compared to knowing Christ.  Paul says he has 1 aim, and that is to Know Christ!!  The secret Paul learned is that all he need was Jesus and if he had Jesus he had all he needed, and if he had Jesus, he could never lose him so therefore he could always be content.  In whatever amount of years I have left let this be my aim; that I may know Christ!!

Thank you for the opportunity to lead.

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All Legs at The Deep

YHC arrived a little early for the workout since I haven’t been out to the Deep in a while. Been doing a little running this year so did a little pre-run myself while Q-Bert and Olaf did some rucking with some heavy tire pieces. Looked nasty and heavy.

It was a cool morning and gave us a break from the week of rain so it was a perfect day for a workout. The Pax rolled in a little before 0700. No FNG’s were present but a brief disclaimer was given and off we went.

Warm-Up

Mosey around to the back of the school with butt kickers, knees to chest, side shuffle, etc…

In Cadence

15 – SSH
15 – IW
15 – WM
15 – Low Slow Squat
25 – Moroccan Night Clubs

Mosey to circle

Brief Discussion on Vulnerability. YHC used the analogy of a baseball game where the outfielder calls “I got it” when a fly ball is hit. Being vulnerable is admitting to God and to your brothers that you “Don’t Got It”. When we admit that we need help with whatever we “Don’t Got”, growth can happen. The challenge was to think of the thing or things that we need where we need to ask for help.

The Thang

150 Lunges (Single Count)
250 Squats
350 LBC’s

Run a lap around in the inside circle after every 50 count of exercises.

Finish early – Find someone to help finish

Lt. Dan’s to the speed bump, run back
Bear Crawl to the speed bump, run back

Run to the speed bump and do burpees on the odd numbers back to the arrow for donkey kicks on the evens to 10.

Walls Sits- Each person count to 10 while holding the wall with one leg out
Shake it out
Switch legs for another 10 count

Total running mileage – 3.26

Mosey back for COT

Prayers

Lutefisk – Loss of his mother
Soprano – Loss of his brother
Olaf’s grandfather
Peg-Internal Interview
Costanza-Interview

Coffeeteria at DD

Great job by the Pax and always great to see the 2.0’s out there. Mine were lazy Saturday.

Always an honor to lead. Thanks Shakespeare for the opportunity. Cobains to Wolverine for trying to age you a couple of years!

Until next time,

Hauschka

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Always a burpee mile at Pantheon

Not too much creativity was brought to Pantheon on this comfortable, non-raining day. Arrived and set out 4 marker softballs around the larger running loop. YHC started with a message about serving and talked about the Thanksgiving drive in the Paradise neighborhood.

No FNGs, gave disclaimer. Started with a jog around the loop to note location of softballs for future use. Butt kickers, side shuffles, and a run backward high knees with no injuries reported. Followed with a circle of a few warmup exercises which included the always popular scissor one-leg flutters.

Workout consisted of running the large loop, stopping at 4 softballs along the way to do burpees. First loop 5 at each softball, then 4 and we eventually finished the 3rd lap. PAX took turns leading during the laps at the pace they desired. After each lap, we performed a series of exercises focusing on arms or legs. Exercises included, but may not be limited to:

Legs: squats, sumo squats, mountain climbers, people’s chair ( a few times with PAX counting down) , ski jump squats (very difficult to count as Q).

Arms: Balls to the wall 3x?, merkins, 6″ merkins, etc.

Calves: Rocky Balboa toe taps, calf raises, squat jumps focusing on getting off toes.

Finished with 3+ minutes of Mary feet never touching ground.

Gave more info about the food drive for our Thanksgiving efforts in Paradise. Thank you to Pantheon PAX for their pledges and donations which have already started come in just a few hours later!

Sign up for Christmas party.  Cornerstone is accepting character bandaids for the children’s hospital until somewhere around Dec. 20.  Come out to G-fit, our weekly workout in Paradise on Saturdays at 3:00 pm at Steele Street Park with the kids. Volunteer at the Reading Center on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:00 pm at the Bethlehem Baptist Church, 601 Joe Louis St.

Prayers for Triple Lindy’s son. Prayers for our kids in school and sports. Support each other outside of our workouts. Triple Lindy is seeking employment if any PAX can help. While overlooked in COT, prayers to Lutefisk and family in their time of loss of his mother.

Thank you to Olaf for taking us out.

YHC had a good talk after with Fishsticks and Triple Lindy (first time meeting).

Here is the link to support our Thanksgiving efforts in Paradise. We must move quickly, within the next couple days.  https://f3thefort.com/2018/11/13/support-thanksgiving-food-efforts-in-paradise/

Aye Bolt.

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Forties for 40

Well today was the day… turning 40…why not take the Q today?  I asked Bones for it months ago.  There’s nothing better than leading a group of men and friends at an F3 workout, especially on a birthday.  I was really happy to see 17 other men here, including a few faces that don’t usually travel to the Abyss.

We started up with a mosey around the parking lot.  Nemo and Flux were pulling in right at 5:15 so we did a lap and let them catch up.  Standard dynamic warmup stuff on the lap.

It was cold so the warmup had some more cardio items than usual.

-SSHs – Ab Vagota – Seal Jacks – Squats – IWs – Mountain Climbers

We ended with the Merkin Circle

6 rounds around the circle.  1 merkin each for the 18 guys while in plank.

We moved over to the Hill.  I found an exercise in the lexicon called “Forties”.  I figured if we added the hill we could call it the “Over the Hill Forties”.  That got some laughs, and some groans…

It’s a ladder with higher reps.  An Exercise at the Top of the Hill, one at the bottom.  Take 30 reps at the top 10 at the bottom, then subtract 5 and add 5 until you’ve flipped to 10-30.

1st round : Top = CDDs Bottom = Flutters

2nd Round : Top = American Hammers Bottom = Calf Raises

We took a break and I shared a little message about reflections.  How these men and F3 have helped change me to be a better person and on a better path in life.  I reflected on who I might have been at 40 with out these men… it wasn’t so pretty.

We moseyed next to the front of the school.  I split the group into 2 teams.

Team 1 would stay for wall sits while Team 2 bear crawled around the circle

Flipped it

Next round BTTW as long as you can, then wall sits while Team 2 Crab Walked the circle

Finally we head back to COT for a very special circle.  For my birthday we we’re going to play a game.  The group had to answer questions about me.  If correct 10 SSHs.  If wrong… 10 burpees!

The Questions were:

  1. How many siblings do I have? right
  2. What is my favorite professional sports team? right
  3. What High School did I attend?  Bonus, what was the mascot? right with bonus!
  4. What was my favorite children’s toy in 1985? wrong
  5. Where do I work? right
  6. Where did I go to college? right

To my surprise these men got 5 of 6 right…and to Iced-T’s credit he was saying He-Man for #4…but the group out voted him!

Announcements

Thanksgiving Convergence

Christmas Party

Fast 5 postponed

Prayers

For Soprano and the passing of his brother

Hurricane victims still in need

Grateful for all the people in our lives

If you’ve read this far the answers were

  1. 1 sister = Rachel
  2. Green Bay Packers
  3. South Meck = Sabres
  4. He-Man
  5. Merrill Lynch
  6. UNCC

An Honor to Lead!

-Royale

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beatdown summary

Warm Hugs For Everyone…….that survives

In celebration of the cooler weather that was exactly one weekend later than requested for a perfect Ragner Carolinas Trail race YHC got the nod to do my thing this past Monday morning at the most proper bootcamp workout west of I77 in Fort Mill. Warmup was handled by my main partner in crime ChaChing so you know by the time YHC took over the upper body was already smoked.
Choose the harder option I’ve been told so we performed some Circle of (insert painfull exercise here).
Circle of Merkins, hold plank and critique all possible things that can be critiqued and even some that cant is expected by the PAX while observing the victim complete 10 merkins. Pass the pain to the right and let the critiques rip. One round was good so we went straight into the Circle of Hump. Same theory just more inappropriate comments from the PAX while each participant performs his best monkey humper. Two rounds of hump were performed because a true HIM never wants to deny her an encore if requested. Next on the docket was the Ring of Fire. That finally ended after two rounds or approximately not a second before everyone had red indicating fluid leaking from some area of skin directly covering a pointy joint. Sorry guys but just chalk it up as mental toughness. Could always be worse, think fire ant infested grass outside of Winthrop basketball gym. Thanks Packman for the memories and mental toughness.
Mosey to the wall beside BestBuy for some BTW, shoulder tap BTW, and some burpees before heading to the Home Depot parking lot.
Get your crawl on ladies. Each PAX perform one loop around the greenspace before running to the Lawn and Garden entrance and back. Methods of transportation around the loop were as follows: Bear crawls, crab walks, crawl bears, inchworm, then one last loop of bear crawls. Mosey back towards Pets Mart and perform some team staggered sprints from crosswalk to crosswalk. Great job guys pushing each other and encouraging until the end. Finally make it back to COT for a quick round of Cha-Cha Merkins since all snowmen love to dance before the Count-A-Rama, Name-A-Rama, P&P, Anouncements and closing prayers by YHC. Thanks for the opportunity Jedi and to the PAX for hummoring YHC with my requests. Warm Hugs for Everyone

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