Risking it All and Going Beyond

Better conditions led to 14 PAX posting at Golden Corral for this week’s edition of BEYOND. Turnout was improved in part because Rad cancelled the ruck workout, encouraging the usual ruckers to join the fun, while he bailed and went yogging at Sea Legs instead.

After Copperfield gave the disclaimer, the 14 BEYONDers took off for a short mosey around the perimeter of the main parking lot, incorporating butt kickers, high knees, toy soldiers, toe walks, and heel walks. We then lined up at the shovel flags (we had three…I don’t know where the third came from…) and did 10 merkins at the island, jog to the next island, 10 more merkins, etc. for a total of 40 merkins. This was followed by a short mosey to the HT loading docks for some final warming up. (Note for GC Q’s – people drive like MANIACS behind HT, so keep the PAX out of the main roadway if possible.)

Brief COP included 10 windmills, 10 low slow squats on our toes (in relevé, if you will), then a couple yoga lunge stretches on each leg. Then partner up and jog around to the HT wall facing the six of O – O – O – O’Reilly for the Thang.

The workout sets were generally done in Stand By Your Man style, with one PAX performing the prescribed reps of some form of merkin while the other does some other exercise, then switch places until all merkin reps completed. Once done, run around oil change place and O’Reilly and back to the HT wall with your partner. Pretty simple…ish…

Let’s get going.

The original plan was to build this week’s message off of what was covered at BEYOND last week, but that had to be modified when we had only three last week and fourteen this week. So, we started with some quick catch-up. If you want a recap of last week, check out that backblast. Main point to remember for today: dig deep and determine your purpose, as this will give a filter through which to handle today’s questions.

Living with purpose inherently involves risk.

During this first set, discuss with your partner how you would define “risk.”

Set 1: Breakdancer merkins (20-16-12-8 reps each) while partner does Rockette Chair (People’s Chair with alternating leg kicks)

Plank it up for the six, then hold it while we chat (with rotation to side, reverse plank, and other side).

Risk can have a variety of definitions, but generally it is an action that exposes you or somebody else to the possibility of harm or loss. We all face risks every day, from driving to relationships. Some risks are bigger than others, but we live lives of risk. Taking risks is necessary for growth and gain, in work and in life. Without some level of risk, we won’t get better.

Risk and sacrifice are different, but related.

During this set, discuss with your partner how you would define “sacrifice.”

Set 2: Mike Tysons (15-15-15-15 reps each) while partner does BTTW (with shoulder taps for the brave).

People’s Chair for the six, then stay for the talk.

Sacrifice is the act of giving up something you want to keep in order to get or do something else (and potentially better). You could say that sacrifice is the realization of the potential loss involved in the risk. Sacrifice has an intentional, willful component to it – you choose to give something up, whether under compulsion or not. Today, most of us sacrificed more sleep to post (thanks for that!), and in doing so also took the risk of maybe getting a good workout, maybe making our day a bit rougher because our arms won’t work after, etc. Silly example for an obvious point.

Personal examples of risk and sacrifice.

During this set, discuss a current or recent example of risk or sacrifice in your life.

Set 3: Pseudo Planche merkins (15-15-15 reps each) while partner does breakdancer. It’s like the breakdancer merkin, but without the merkin, a little more jumpy, and ideally a bit faster.

Return and breathe while waiting for the six, then for the talk.

An easy example of sacrifice in my life was giving up our life in Africa to return to the US. Again, for more on this, refer to last week’s backblast. But for the risk component, there were two risks that weighed heavily on our last year in Africa and played into our decision to return. The first was our son’s health. He was premature and had some health issues that went with it. He also began having seizures while we still lived overseas. As a father, was I willing to risk his health to continue living and working in Zambia? Then, we wanted more kids, but my wife is a high-risk pregnancy, and we lived in a place where premature babies die more than they survive, and maternal mortality is high as well. These risks paired with other circumstances played into our decision to return, giving up our identities, our home, our relationships, etc.

Much of the reason for me wanting to talk about all this today stems from a conversation with Cha Ching and Olaf from several months ago. They may not remember it, but it has stuck with me ever since. We were talking about the new security training I’m helping develop for our new workers, and there are three main questions that come out of this training. These questions are what I want to leave with everybody today (with one more set thrown in for good measure).

The first two questions to consider:

How much am I willing to risk in order to achieve my purpose? (This makes more sense if you spend the time determining your purpose.)

What, if anything, would be an unnecessary level of risk or a risk that would actually hinder accomplishment of your purpose?

No need to answer the questions this time, as they take time to really work through.

Set 4: Battering rams (drop to six inches, then, using your arms and not your feet, thrust your torso forward so your hands end up between ribs and hips; 20-20-20 reps each) while partner does Monkey Humpers. For some, this proved to be a somewhat inappropriate combination of moves. #badplanning #somethingsyoucantunhear

Pressed for time, we gathered following the run around the buildings for the final point. I actually left out two full sets, but I don’t think anybody’s arms are particularly missing them (see below for what we missed).

The final question to ponder: Do I believe strongly enough in my purpose that I’m willing to sacrifice everything for it?

Simply put, are you willing to die to achieve your purpose? Fourteen years ago, my answer would have been a lot different. But now, with a wife and children, I hesitate. If I know that they will be taken care of, then I’d probably be willing to die. But what if the tables were turned? Would I be so committed to my purpose, to my faith, that I’d be willing to sacrifice my family? I’ve never been in that situation, so I don’t know. But this is a reality faced by many in other parts of the world. For some, it’s a daily reality, being faced with the possibility of losing everything for what they believe.

What would you do? Do you have a commitment to something that is so strong that you’re willing to sacrifice everything for it, even your family?

Time never seems sufficient to cover the topic, but discussion doesn’t need to end when the workout does.

We ended there and ran back to COT to meet up with the bootcampers.

Announcements

  • Deacon reminded us of the opportunities in the Paradise community, with the reading program on Mondays and Wednesdays and G-Fit on Saturdays. Take a risk and make an impact in the community.

Prayers and Praises

  • Pray for those involved with the Palmetto 200 this weekend.
  • Keep praying for our wives and kids.
  • Pray for those with mental health issues and the practitioners who care for them. Specifically, pray for Copperfield’s M as she deals with some very difficult situations.
  • Bolt’s neighbor passed away last week. Pray for this man’s family and friends and others who are dealing with this loss.
  • Prayers for one of Decibel’s employee’s dad, who is in the hospital.
  • Bonsai and his wife are praying about a few things right now; prayers for wisdom and discernment as they consider some options.
  • Deacon has a friend with serious health concerns. Prayers for him as he seeks care at Mayo.
  • Praises for F3 and the impact it has had on our lives.

It was an honor to get to lead this group, and I really appreciate Maximus pushing me to do two BEYOND Qs in a row. If you haven’t had opportunity to do this yet, talk to him. Whether or not the other PAX benefit from the message you bring, your life will be changed by working through the material in preparation to lead. Definitely worth it. And I’m happy to not do it again for a while.

-Jedi

Missed sets

For those wondering what we missed for lack of time, the remaining sets were:

Set 5: one-arm merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does bomb jacks.

Set 6: Scorpion merkins (16-12-8 reps each) while partner does jump squats.

You’re welcome.

TClap |
7

A Feast for Crows

Great weather, great group of PAX, and an overall great morning.  Excitement filled the air because it was the “official” launch of the “Crows Nest”, Lake Wylie’s newest AO.  We had 7 boot-campers and 1 runner (Kenyan) who was already out running before we got started.  After a super-quick disclaimer, we took a short mosey around the school and circled up.

Warm-A-Rama

Nothing too fancy today.  I had a lot of different exercises planned for the workout, so we did a random number of the following to get the back stretched out and the blood flowing a little.

  • Windmills
  • Cherry Pickers
  • Imperial Walkers

The Thang

I had a nice match game prepared for the PAX this morning.  I can’t say it was a totally original idea because the crux of the game I stole from a previous bootcamp lead by Witch Hunt.  In any case, it was fun, and as usual, I modified it a bit for better or worse…

It consisted of 3 sets of ten disc cones arranged in a triangle (think bowling pins) and placed on a grassy field also in a triangle.  As we moved between each point of the triangle we would Bear Crawl between the short “sides” or Sprint the long “side” of the triangle. Each of the 10 cones in each set had 1 of 5 different pairs of exercises taped to the bottom.  The idea was to flip over 2 cones, if the exercises matched, we performed 1 set of the exercise and removed the cones.  If they didn’t match, we did both exercises, flipped the cones back over, and made our way to the next set of cones. We continued this process until we matched and performed all of the exercises or until time was up.

Below is the list of exercises that were taped to the bottom.  I can’t say I remember exactly how many we ended up doing, but it could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for Q-Bert and his ridiculous memory that worked way to well this early in the morning.  Needless to say we completed the “game” with about 8 minutes to spare so we did everything at least once and repeated maybe half of them twice.

  • 15 Burpees oyo
  • 50 Seal Jacks oyo
  • 50 Plank Jacks oyo
  • 50 SSHs oyo
  • 20 Mountain Climbers IC
  • 15 Flutters IC
  • 25 Merkins oyo
  • 30 Dips oyo
  • 25 CDDs oyo
  • 50 LBCs oyo
  • 20 American Hammers IC
  • 25 Jump Squats oyo
  • 15 Lunges (each leg)
  • 10 Crab Cakes IC
  • 10 Donkey Kicks oyo

We moseyed our way back to the parking lot and filled the remaining 5 minutes with BTTW, which we held while each PAX did 2 Burpees and returned to the wall.  Upon completion we circled up for Ablab to finish out the last couple of minutes.  We managed to get through some Hello Dolly’s, Dying Cockroaches, and I’m pretty sure something else I’m forgetting 🙂

That took us right up to 6:00AM so we circled up for CoT.

Announcements:

  • P200 this Friday!
  • Brew Ruck 002 on 3/31

Praises/Prayers:

  • Prayers for the P200 runners this weekend.
  • Praises/Prayers for Sparkle’s friend, he has been battling stomach issues and had underwent surgery recently, the surgeons found a redundant colon that they were able to utilize for his recovery.  Quite the miracle!
  • Prayers for Royale and his busy and stressful work week… as well as all the PAX and their families as they go about their day today.

Until next time…

Flux

 

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2

Competitive Cones at the Poopdeck

It was a cold morning by the Lake, so when 5:15 hit we got right to it. Disclaimer was fully disclaimed then we went straight into a set of 17 SSH to get the blood flowing.

Mosey around the parking lot then

  • Crab walk into COP (30 yards ish)
  • 13 crab cakes
  • 11 windmills
  • 23 MNCs
  • 5 Finkle swings (R), 5 Finkle swings (L)

All the sets were prime numbers, for no reason other than it feels good not to do things in multiples of 5 every now and then. Also ,the Finkle Swing is a great warm up for the hip-flexor and it works on developing balance for the PAX. Plus, its funny to see everyone trying not to fall over. We need to work that into the rotation more.

 

The Thang

PAX moseyed over to the boat ramp parking lot, narrowly avoiding an encounter with the Crazy Cat Lady and her Mercedes of doom. 11 cones had been set up at the far end of the parking lot, about 100 yards away from the start. One of the best motivators for a good workout is competition, so we split into two teams. On each team P1 would go retrieve a cone and bring it back. While P1 was running, P2 and P3 planked. On the bottom of the cone (so you don’t know what you are choosing) was an exercise and count that had to be completed before P2 could run for the next cone. Also, there was a exercise on the top of the cone (clearly visible when the cone was selected) that the non runners had to do while waiting for the next cone. For example, P1 brings back a cone and everyone on the team does 30 merkins. Then, while P2 is running, P1 and P3 do high knees in place until P2 returns. Here were the cone pairings:

  • 40 SSH in cadence / American Hammers
  • 30 Monkey Humpers / Freddie Mercuries
  • 20 Diamond Merkins / LBCs
  • 30 Sumo Squats / Lunges
  • Dealer’s Choice! / Mario Punches
  • 15 Seal Team Sit-Ups / Elbow Plank
  • 1 lap around the parking lot / shoulder taps
  • 25 Burpees / Overhead Claps
  • 30 Merkins / High Knees in Place
  • 25 Mountain Climbers in cadence / Calf Raises
  • 13 Donkey Kicks / Dying Cockroach

Team 1 (YHC, Peg, and ©) pulled the “run a lap” cone on the first selection and played catch up for the rest of the competition. The game came down to a final sprint between Peg and Olaf for the winning cone. Peg had the cone in hand but fumbled it. Or perhaps it was stripped by Olaf. Either way, the victory cone was sprinted back, leaving Team 2 (Olaf, Iced T, and Qbert) as the victors. All PAX did the final cone together, which ended up being the 25 Burpees.

After a 10 count or two, we partnered up and did wheelbarrows along the columns at the Bowl and Bounce shops. Get to a column, both PAX do 2 merkins then wheelbarrow to the next one. Flapjack. Had to audible halfway through and switch the merkins to 2 squats.

Head to the wall for some people’s chair with 7 LBCs each. BTTW with 2 Burpees each. Rinse repeat.

Ended the morning with a little Mary, courtesy of the winning team.

 

Announcements, Prayers, & Praises

  • Listen to the Roundtable on F3 Houston and Big Wheel. What can we do to better prepare for emergencies in the gloom?
  • Iced T’s M is recently out of work – prayers for peace and a new job
  • Qbert’s M and a recurring stressor in their marriage
  • Sleep and adjusting to the new normal in house Homebrew

 

Always a fun time getting after it with this crew. I really love how everyone embraced the competition and went all out. Thanks Peg for the opportunity.

Stay Classy,

Homebrew

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1

Tires and props at the deep

Thankful for the opportunity to lead a one hour Q at the Deep, 16 PAX decided to get better in a perfect weather saturday morning. Some PAX pre run not knowing what was coming.

Quick disclaimer  and welcomed one FNG (Cosmo)

We started the warm up with a 2 minute run around the parking lot, circled up and started with the following in cadence:

20 Windmills

20 Low slow squats

20 Moroccan Night Clubs

10 diamond merkins

10 wide arm merkins

20 regular merkins (lots of mumble chatter here, not sure if PAX were complaining about the merkins)

THE THANG:

Quick explanation of the workout, we had 4 station/corner setup,  we split into groups 1 to 4 and one group went to each corner, a lap around the parking lot was the “resting” time between stations.

  • First  Corner: (sledgehammers and tire)

10 rosalitas

15 big boy sit ups

20 Sledgehammer swings (10 each side)

25 American hammer (one side count)

  • Second Corner: (dumbbells)

10 two arm triceps extension

15 two arm biceps curls

25 triceps dips

30 Carolina drydocks

  • Third Corner: (large tractor tire)

5  Tire flips

10  Deep squats

20 lunges (10 each side)

30 calf raises

  • Fourth Corner: (battle rope)

10 diamond merkins

15 wide arm merkins

20 regular merkins

30 battle rope wave

With about 32 minutes into the workout we moseyed to the hill behind the baseball field, we bare crawled to the top and crawl bear to the bottom with 5 burpees at the top, rinse and repeat 2 times, our FNG Cosmo was feeling the merlot coming out but luckily he recovered. We run one more time to the top of the hill and grabbed a curb for some triceps dips and a needed 10 count recovery time. We moseyed down the hill and a wall crossed our pat so we people chaired while each PAX did 5 monkey humpers starting from the ends working our way to the middle of the crowd, we did a quick recover followed by balls to the wall while each PAX did 3 burpees starting from each end towards the middle, not sure why Flux’s face was so red (he was in the middle of the pack)  with about 10 minutes left we moseyed back to COT and circled up for some ABS work, clockwise each PAX  chose their favorite exercise for 10 reps each,  great way to finish the workout.

We did a headcount and namearama, we welcomed FNG Cosmo and a 4 year F3 veteran Olaf who moved from Lake Norman to our area.

We prayed for our families, our kids, our jobs and were thankful for our F3 community and the support and strength that brings to our lives.

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4

The Green Monster

There were 7 on a wet, rainy, spring-forward Monday morning in Lake Wylie including 5 fresh faces that didn’t post during the 1st recon.

I had been planning on tackling this HUGE hill next to the ball field at Crowder’s Creek.  After looking at the weather over the weekend and knowing the hill would be a muddy mess, I thought about calling an Omaha, but decided against it.  The harder and more miserable the better the gains right?

We circled up after a quick-and-groggy disclaimer and moseyed our way towards the back of the school w/some active running along that way that included some Toy Soldiers and Karaoke’s.  After getting close to our destination we circled up for some warm-ups that included a random number of the following:

  • SSH’s
  • Moroccan Night Clubs
  • Windmills
  • Peter Parkers
  • Parker Peters
  • Plank Jacks

The Thang

The plan was simple, get to the massive hill and go up and down it as many times as we can in varying ways.  For the cherry, I thought we would keep count by doing a burpee for each new time we went up & down the hill.

  • To see what we were dealing with I thought we would start with a nice mosey up & down the hill.  x1 Burpee at the bottom.
  • Sprint up/down.  x2 Burpee’s at the bottom.

I appreciated Cornerstones “Clockwork Merkin’s at the Abyss Wednesday, so I thought we would take a “breather” and do this exercise again.  The hill really makes it interesting.  We did 6 Merkins IC at 12, 3, 6, and 9o’clock.

  • Back to the hill… Bear Crawl up, Bear Crawl down.  x3 Burpees
  • NUR up the hill, NUR down the hill. x4 Burpees
  • Crawl Bear up, Crawl Bear down. x5 Burpees.
  • Grab a partner and Wheelbarrow Walk up and back down. x6 Burpees.
  • BONUS, sprint up and down. NO BURPEES!
  • Crab Walk up, Crab Walk down. x7 Burpees.
  • Partner Carry up, but not on the way down.  To slippy. x8 Burpees.

We had about 7 minutes left and needed 4-5 to make it back to CoT.  I asked the PAX if they wanted to do 1 more climb or mosey back for some Ablab.  Unsurprisingly they picked Ablab…

We moseyed back with 3 minutes to spare.  PEG, Whopper, and Q-Bert called out some exercises; Freddies, Freddy-has-a-fat-girlfriend (4-count Freddie with a crunch in position 3), and Crunchy Frog respectively to fill up the rest of the time.

CoT

Included Name-o-Rama, Announcements, Praises, and Prayers in random order (because the time jump left me pretty dazed and confused this AM).

This AO will be official and named next week!

Prayers for my M’s grandmother as she passes.  We are praying for a peaceful exit to go and be with God.

Praises to Homebrew and his EH from the week before ICE T, for getting together to support the homeless every other Saturday.  What a great cause!

Until next time….

-Flux

https://twitter.com/twitter/statuses/973146529430056960

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6

ChaChing Impromptu Black Diamond in Lake Wylie

So I had been reading the “Living With a Seal” book about a wealthy business man ultra-athlete who hired a Seal he met at a 100 mile relay race (the business man was on a 4 guy relay team; the Seal was on a 1 man team lol) and was so amazed at his mental and physical toughness, he hired him to live w/ him and his family for 31 days.  Pretty easy fast read – super entertaining, w/ plenty of good training ideas, but even better, perspective.

I told the Pax this wouldn’t be easy – in fact it was going to suck.  There was a Beyond Black Diamond in Tega Cay the same day, so I figured we’d do a little Lake Wylie Black Diamond at Palisades.  I gave the Pax two quotes to get it started from Seal:  “To truly get better, you have to be willing to get uncomfortable.  You have to push your limits”.  Check.  “I don’t stop when I’m tired.  I stop when I’m done”.  I love that.  Let’s go.

Ran behind the school in the middle of the outdoor track and started the warm-up:

  1.  Quickest ever – windmill, moroccan night club, squats and mountain climbers.  That’s it.

Next up – Tabata w/ music (if you want an awesome tabata app that you can add your own music to and adjust times, etc – get “Seconds”).  Great playlist was in store for the following:

  1.  Every Minute,  we had to do 40 side straddle hops + 10 merkins.  5 minutes.  I was surprised – we finished each of the 40 and 10 with about 10 seconds to spare each minute.  10 seconds of break, and then do it again.  Fun stuff.  (total 200 side straddle hops, 50 merkins in 5 min)
  2. Nickels & Dimes – ran to the playground and did something similar – each minute do 5 pull-ups and 15 merkins for 5 minutes.  (total 25 pull-ups, 75 merkins in 5 min)

Next up was some awful partner work.  Size mattered.  We started on one side of the back parking lot.  Partner 1 would chase Partner 2, but here’s the wrinkle – Partner 2 gets a 20 yard head start and has to back pedal.  Partner 1 was to sprint and catch him.  When he catches him, they do an exercise together, then have to get back to the starting line by way of whatever I say.  So it matters how fast you catch your partner as it’ll make the trip back to the starting line shorter if you fly (or longer if you take your time).  Here it is, in order:

  1.  Partner 1 catches Partner 2 then…30 merkins.  Then…broad jump back to the starting line.  Yikes
  2. Partner 2 catches Partner 1 then…20 big boy sit-ups.  Then…bear crawl back to the starting line.
  3. Partner 1 catches Partner 2 then…20 jump knee tucks.  Then…crawl bear back to the starting line.
  4. Partner 2 catches Partner 1 then…50 seal jacks.  Then…partner carry back to the starting line.
  5. Partner 1 catches Partner 2 then…25 diamond merkins.  Then…other partner carries back to the starting line.
  6. Partner 2 catches Partner 1 then…10 burpees.  Then…just run back to the start.  There’s your break.

Don’t underestimate the suckiness of that many sprints, both forward and back pedals.  I was smoked.

Next up, track time – the way it works, you sprint the straight aways, you jog the curved ends of the tracks.  Starting on the side we were closer to, we sprinted the length, jogged the curve, sprinted the length then exercise of my choice when you hit the second curve.

  1.  50 crab cakes
  2. Jog curve, sprint, jog curve, sprint, 50 squats
  3. Jog curve, sprint, jog curve, sprint, 25 Robin Venturas (each side) (side plank w/ upper arm punching under your body, as if you were Nolan Ryan and had Ventura in a head lock)
  4. Job curve, sprint, jog curve, sprint, 50 speed skaters.

Ran back fast to COT just in time to close it out.  Almost had one splash of merlot, but he saved it.  Everyone crushed it that day – it was a bear but they all finished and fought through each step of the way.  Love how everyone handled the pain – I reminded them all whatever we have going on, someone else has more pain.  You have to learn to fight.

Closed out in prayer and went about our hump day.  Thanks to Bones for the chance to lead.

Cha Ching

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1

Headlamps needed out of darkness comes light

 

Pulled up was amazed how many cars where already there and the pax kept rolling in. I guess my advertising worked. We had 2 kotters It was great to see MR. T and Baywatch back out

The Thing

I said the Disclaimer and we Mosey to warm
Followed by high knees to regular then to butt kickers, then regular. Last but not least toy soldiers then regular we  then circle up

Windmill 10 IC
Imperial walker 15 IC
Cherry picker 10 IC

Run the paved path at the bottom of the hill. We have never ventured into the woods in the 2 years we have been here, so what better time than now to explore this great path with a good sized hill would make a great work out for SeaLegs hmmmmmmm in the near future.

Circle up talk about how life is too short to not venture out and explore. Take control of your life be happy. YHC realized there is not enough room to do global warming as planed so I Omaha to the hill.

Mosey to the hill clock work merkins. YHC did short demo:
5 Merkins in 12 o’clock, 5 – in 3 o’clock 5 – in 6 o’clock 5 – in 9 o’clock and 5 – in 12 o’clock one more time. Run to the top of the hill for some –

– Global warming (10 merkins, 10 CCD, 10 burpees)

Mosey to the gaurd rail where I pulled out my board of  pain from behind the guard rail

Partner up

Partner 1 performs exercise till partner returns
Partner 2 runs around long median to the side walk and back.

Monkey humpers
Moroccan night clubs
Plank w/shoulder taps
Irkins
Dips
Donkey kicks
Plank jacks
Squats on your toes
Nur up the hill
American hammers
Burpees
Seal jacks

Some made it to donkey kicks a few made it to plank jacks. I felt we ran enough for the work out so we Lt Dan up hill toward COT .10 of a mile then we NUR the rest of the way COT ot .10 of a mile. I am a big fan of NURING but learned that Cha Ching can run backwards really fast.

COT
Talked more about life being to short live it to the fullest tomorrow is never promised. The reason behind this was bout 2 1/2 years ago Emma my daughter was diagnosed with leukemia. We have now come to a end with her treatment and she has surgery tomorrow to remove her port out of her chest. With that being said we found out last friday that my stepmother has stage IV lung cancer. So never take a day for granted.

Announcements:

Ruck brew, Hog & Coyote coming soon, P200
A group that has supported my family the last 2 years Hometown Heros has a Union county sheriff’s deputy running 40 miles to raise money for the kids battling cancer and other diseases this Saturday trying get some pax to join me with 5k 10k 15 mile 10 mile ect options to support him and his cause.

Prayers and praises:

Prayers for Luka, Vuvuzella son. Emma for finishing treatment up and for having port removed. For my stepmother journey with cancer. Praise for our 2 kotters that came back out.

Great work by the pax they did an awesome job and really pushed them selves. TCLAPS MEN.

https://youtu.be/ZhOkLxtOWYY

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4

Rainy Monday at the Quagmire

10 Brave soles ventured to the rainy gloom of Quagmire for an opportunity to better themselves.  After getting the late night SOS from Davinci for a “last minute Q”….I put my thinking cap on for how to make it a memorable Monday (meaning you felt it for a couple of days).

After normal disclaimer…and a reminder that “modification” should only be used if needed, we began our mosey.

Warm up:

  • About a mile run (To Gander Mountain)….despite the “I thought this wasn’t a running AO” comments
  • Windmills
  • Hillbilly Walkers
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Weed pickers
  • Slow Low Squats
  • Mountain Climbers
  • Downward Dog
  • Honeymooner
  • Side plank
  • Moroccan Night Club
  • Seal Jacks

The Fun Stuff

Moseyed to the Verizon parking lot

Lined up and performed exercises from one end to the other

  • 5 sets:  Bear Crawl…5 Merkins…Crawl Bear…5 Merkins
  • Set of 50 Merkins
  • 100 Dips
  • 5 Sets:  Lunge Walk…..Backward Run….10 Squats

Mosey back to Best Buy

  • 30 Burpees….10 every minute

COT

Thanks for the opportunity to lead and great work by all the PAX there.

 

~ Bones

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2

Beasts from the Abyss

Following a pre-run boot involving some Dora 1-2-3 and a preview of the day’s workout, YHC and QBert moseyed to the main parking lot to greet the rest of the PAX and get ready for the 0515 start. Truth be told, the preview with QBert revealed that the workout planned would be a killer, so I was already making modifications in my mind, but still wanted to give the PAX a good push. After all, why wake up and post at dark-thirty if not to push yourself, build up your brothers, and get better?

Disclaimer given while most PAX chatted, then off we went, starting with an easy mosey around the parking lot, out the entry, in the exit, and around to the track. High knees, butt kickers, toy soldiers, tip-toe walks, and heel walks were enjoyed at various times before circling up in the track area.

Warm-a-rama

Quick run-through of the usuals:

  • 10 Hillbilly walkers, IC
  • 10 Imperial walkers, IC
  • 10 Windmills, IC
  • 20 Moroccan night clubs, IC
  • 10 Merkins, IC

We added in some downward dog (with cross-body ankle grab action), honeymooner, and extra wrist stretches because, well, the Thang was about to happen…

The Thang

Starting at one end of the track, perform assigned movement (crawl, walk, hop, etc.) to first basketball hoop, complete assigned exercise, move (crawl, walk, hop, etc.) to next hoop, exercises, etc., all the way to fourth basketball hoop. Upon completion of exercise, do a suicide cupcake, turning at each hoop, then run all the way back to the start and plank for the six. Rinse and repeat with new movement and new exercise.

Movement/exercise pairs:

  • Bear crawl between hoops, with 20 CDD at each hoop
  • Crab walk between hoops, with 20 crab cakes at each hoop

Quick Omaha here, cutting distance in half for remainder of the workout.

  • Sneaky gorilla between hoops, with 50 LBCs at each hoop
  • Anteater crawl between hoops, with 25 merkins at each hoop
  • Monkey crawl between hoops, changing direction at each hoop, with 25 monkey humpers at each hoop (monkey crawls probably need a better name, since they’re more of a scoot than a crawl)
  • Fiddler crab between hoops, changing direction at each hoop, with 20 Freddie Mercurys (double count) at each hoop

With only four minutes left, the choice was given among the remaining three sets:

  • Frog hops between hoops, with 25 calf raises at each hoop
  • Inch worm between hoops, with 5 burpees at each hoop (this was the PAX’s choice, though a few modified to frog hops)
  • Chameleon between hoops, with 25 squats at each hoop

Everybody got through it, and we had just enough time to mosey back to COT without going over on time (somehow).

Announcements

  • Children’s Attention Home this Saturday. Be there if you can, it’s a great opportunity!
  • Brew Ruck coming up on Easter weekend. It’s fun. Be there if your M will let you.
  • Lake Wylie PAX doing some site recon at Crowder’s Creek Elementary on Monday, March 5, with Flux on Q. They’re hoping to open up a new AO on that side of the lake to give more opportunities for the outlying PAX and neighboring sad clowns.
  • Site Q transitions this week, with Poopdeck on Thursday and the Deep on Saturday both getting handed off.

Praises and Prayers

  • Cornerstone’s 2.0 had her last round of chemo and will be getting her port out on March 8 (I believe).
  • Cornerstone got a new job!
  • Prayers for the younger generation, and for wisdom and opportunities for us to stand up and make an impact.

As always, it is an honor to lead a great group of men. I appreciate the work everybody put in to this workout, trying new and admittedly awkward movements, and encouraging each other along. Thanks to Bones for this opportunity, and apologies to his patients who will likely suffer from his inability to use his arms today. You’re welcome.

-Jedi

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Build Your Own Beatdown at the Abyss

After being called out on Twitter for being too brutal (still not a denial), I decided to let the PAX create their own board of pain so they were to blame

3 runners jogged off right before the disclaimer, short disclaimer since we were all veterans.

After a quick warm-up with super necessary stretching, we moseyed over to the back lot to create our Board of pain. While the PAX were doing various plank/reverse plank/one arm high, one man would grab a few cards out of the bag and post them up on the board in any random location. If a number was pulled it was placed at the top of the section as the rep count (NOTE: no 25s were pulled…. stack the deck next time)

After the board, we rotated through some Al Gore and plank while everyone gave a specific worry about this day – Wednesday, Feb 14 – and left it in God’s hands to handle the tiny stressors of the day as to not let them pile up and bring us down slowly. Everyone has big struggles and worries that can take weeks or months to pray through, but don’t forget the small tiny interruptions and distractions the Enemy will throw at you to just keep you enough off balance so you are not ready for the big storms.

Everyone successfully completed the board with enough time to spare for about 200 various AbLab reps ( 100 ish in cadence ) and dropped for 5 OYO burpees with 20 seconds left on the clock.

COT (Annoucements, Prayers, Praises, BoM)

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