Tag: Rock Thrill

Leaving Home

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It was a Thursday morning gloom at Laces In…a Thursday in May when the temp was already higher than it should be…a Thursday when our Site Q was DR but his predecessor provided strong support…a Thursday after The Murph when mumblechatter still reflected stories from the experience…a Thursday after YHC (aka, Dan from Dallas) returned to The Fort following a long weekend trip to the land of his origins…a Thursday without any FNGs.  So, the Disclaimer was brief and the pax were off.

The Thang

Mosey to parking lot near tennis courts

Pause at first light pole — SSHs

Mosey to next light pole — Mtn climbers

Mosey to next light pole — Low slow squat

Mosey to next light pole — Imperial Walker

Mosey to next light pole — Hillbilly walker

Mosey to next light pole — Merkin

Mosey to next light pole — Peter Parker & Parker Peter

Mosey to baseball field, pick partner & muster on opposite sides of home plate for 60 second intervals

Cycle 1: Partner 1 runs to 1st base for Burpees AMRAP while Partner 2 runs to 3rd base for Bombjacks AMRAP (flapjack)
Cycle 2: Partner 1 runs to 1st for Merkins AMRAP while Partner 2 runs to 3rd for CDDs AMRAP (flapjack)
Cycle 3: Partner 1 runs to 1st for Sumo squats AMRAP while Partner 2 runs to 3rd for Monkey Humpers AMRAP (flapjack)

Plank + Al Gore sequence at home plate

Rinse & repeat 3 cycles 2 more times

Muster at home plate for some Mary — Hello dollies, LBCs, American Hammers, Superman

Mosey home

Plank it up for final 2 mins — shoulder taps, plank jacks

COT

NMM

Thank you to Cyclops for the invite to Q.  I can’t recall my last BC Q in The Fort, so it was a treat to be leading the pax.  Also a pleasure to connect with a handful of new faces.  It’s great to see pax of The Fort continue to #giveitaway!

The word from Funhouse (who posted to LO) after COT was that the LI pax returning to Shovel Flag looked gassed.  Music to any Q’s ears, for sure.  T-claps to the pax for pushing intensity throughout, especially to those who went to bed at Zero Dark Thirty and still posted (ahem…Slash).  The work was hard but the grass was soft and weed-free.

The workout on the ball field was built around the theme of “leaving home.”  Dallas is my place of birth but it’s no longer my home, physically or emotionally.  While my weekend trip for a nephew’s graduation proved to be fruitful on many fronts, I felt no nostalgia for the place.  I don’t say that with any disgust or anguish…it’s just a fact.  This was the first time in the 13 years since I moved to FM that I felt no emotional pull westward.  The realization prompted further reflection on whether I’d left behind certain habits and vices from my adolescence and young adulthood in Dallas — petty grievances with siblings and old friends, disrespecting parents, excessive drinking (and occasionally driving), strip joints and the list goes on.  Yes, I’ve turned a page since moving eastward, far from perfect, but further down the path of maturity.  How about you?  Are you still clinging to the past?  Whether your origins are in CLT/FM or elsewhere, might there be elements of the past, baggage from “home” or an earlier stage of life that you need to leave behind?  Marinate on that a bit as you recover and allow the sweat to evaporate.  And make a choice, take a step toward maturity and #Acceleration.

Thanks for being part of this Thursday.

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Laces Out – WEP loop is actually 0.6 miles. Who knew?

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6 Pax decided to run in Laces out today.

The Thang – Choose your own Adventure

Basic Loop: FMHS, Munn Road, left on Harris, left on path to WEP, up 160, left on Munn to FMHS = 3.91 miles

Add Old Kingsley Business Loop = 4.28

Add 1 Loop of WEP = 4.88

Add 1 more Loop of WEP = 5.48

Add 1 more Loop of WEP = 6.08

Stretched and met up with Laces in with Double D at the Q.

FunHouse

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Laces Out – The Bear Prep Edition

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4 men joined me today for an awesome 6 mile tour of some hills around Fort Mill. Why not with The Bear around the corner?

A disclaimer was given, as well as a safety check. We warmed up around the lot and we were off. Whenever Vuvu shows up, and I am the Q, I know I will be leading from the back. He put it to us on Tuesday and challenged the pace again today, although mainframe was the rabbit, as he usually is.

Great group today, albeit small. What I love about running is you never know who you will be spending time with and  getting to know better.  For me, today it was Spud. A true #HIM. We mostly talked about The Journey. What it has meant to him and what it might could mean for me. We realized there was a reason God had us running together today. I love that. All 3 Fs were hit.

Anchorman and Barry were missed.

This was the route-

left on Munn, right on Harris, right on Sutton, left on Richard’s Xing, right on Front, right on 160, right on Sutton

It is a keeper.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

RT out

 

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Swings at Block Party

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YHC had two plans in case the setup for the Strawberry Festival hindered the better workout, but a quick walkthrough of WEP revealed that everything was normal and the fun could begin as hoped.

12 PAX appeared in the gloom, 4 runners ran, 8 campers booted. No FNGs, issued the disclaimer anyways.

Starting with a mosey half way around WEP and stoping to warm up the no leg parts in the field the PAX enjoyed the following:
20x SSH
10x Low Slow Squat
10x Werewolf
10x Tea stance dips, each leg – Standing normal, step the right leg over the left and space about shoulder width.  It’s awkward. Now sink until the left foot comes up and the left knee hovers over the ground.  Now hold both arms out with palms out, dip down until the knee brushes the dirt.  Do this ten times and reverse.

Now mosey back to the trail and over to the playground.

PAX paired up (8 was the magic number, worked perfectly!). One partner has his legs hanging on a swing, hands in the wood chips, doing one of three painful exercises until their partner comes back. The other runs about 50m away to perform a set number of exercises. The groups worked together. No man was left behind.

YHC demonstrated palm to back of hand pushups for advanced mode. After a few on the swing, knuckles were preferred.  The flips caused a lot of wood chips in the face.

Swing exercise | Partner exercise 
Pushups | Squat Jumps x10
Knees to chest | Calf Raises x20
Pike (plank to down dog) | Squat Jumps x10

Pushups | Squat Jumps x10
Knees to chest | Calf Raises x20
Pike | Squat Jumps x10

Broga break
10x windmill
Down dog
Honeymooner
Justifier on the ground, pressing up with arms to stretch abs. Isolating left by looking over right shoulder and a slight right twist, reverse, then center. Good stretching all around

Back to the swings for another set

Pushups | Flutter x20
Knees to chest | Box Cutter x10
Pike | Bomb Jacks x10

With only six minutes left we moseyed the remaining trail back to COT with enough time for:
Squat Calf raises x 20
Bomb Jack’s x 3 (with a four count)

The runners rolled in and someone may have referred to Polaroid as “A shining unicorn in the gloom” as he ran through the fog.

Circle up for announcements and a prayer.

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Hill Day at Pathfinder

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Backblasts- they are important. Even for running workouts. it is part of being the Q. Do it.

Well, after multiple times of Skate or Die asking me if I would Q Pathfinder and me saying yes, but not committing to a date, he finally threw a date on it and asked one more time. Yes, I will. And I am thankful for his persistence and for giving me the opportunity to lead.

For those who have not joined Pathfinder, you are missing out. Not sure why, but it is not listed as a category on here. #uncategorized #rogue

Anyways, Skate drummed up the idea  a little over a year ago of a roving running workout on Tuesdays, which The Fort needed, and the cool thing is the Q decides where the launch is and at what time it launches. Then it gets Tweeted or Slacked the night before. It offers a ton of variety and the 2F is outstanding. Keeps it interesting. No man left behind. Lately, trail runs have even entered the mix.

We (Skate, Harry Caray and I) met today at the Massey clubhouse today at 5 AM. Warm up mile to the entrance the long way and then head over Oxford Place next door, which is just full of hills. I thought I could stop the mumblechatter, but those boys were not even phased. Chatted the whole way. Haray Caray left a bit early to hit Crossroads (#HIM). Skate and I cooled down one more mile or so and then went back to launch. Skate pulled out his phone where he missed Cashflow’s text from 5:03 that he was almost there. #cobains. About that time, we heard steps in the distance and up ran Cashflow and Birdcage. Birdcage said he remembered the launch was 5 AM, but he forgot when he got up this morning. Yeah. I could not really give him a hard time, since he just obliterated the P200 after setting fire to the 10K course at Joe Davis 10k..

Anyways, what matters is that we all got a great run in and then we had a prayer to start our day. The Fort offers a lot of great options on Tuesdays and this is one of them. let’s support Skate or Die. Give it a try. next week, Stang Q’s the trails again.

Announcements-

Tomorrow the focus is on mental health at Abyss, Coop and Pantheon. Please plan to attend one of them. Brothers will be sharing their hearts and this is an issue that affects more people than you know.

Support our brother Olive this Saturday at the Christina Latini Memorial 8k

latinimemorial8k.racesonline.com

Clown cars leaving Starbucks at 6:30 AM

Virtual run option at Alcatraz, too

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Laces In 2019.08

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So for the beat down portion of this I was trying to accomplish an under 30 second max effort and a 3 minute max effort.  So the 30 second effort was a 100 yard dash and the 3 minute max reps of burpees.  This was flanked by other exercises but generally, I wanted to hit the two shorter metabolic pathways (google it) this morning.

Warmup
Because we were doing sprints, there was a longer warmup period than usual.  After the obligatory SSH there was windmills, squats, merkins, and slow MNCs (full rotaion) .  Then the warmup for legs which includes your karaoke, buttkickers, high knees, and WWL power skips.

Thang
Sprint, some talking for cooldown, sissy squats, (or Greek god Sisyphus squat, again google it) peter pointers x4
Mosey to patio
Peoples chair 2 min w arm flutters, B2W w/ 10x should taps
3min max reps Burpees
Peoples chair 1 min w calf raises, B2W 30 seconds
Mosey to COT for more slow MNCs

Moleskin
I kinda went over the two prevalent “feel good” hormones in the body: dopamine and serotonin.  Dopamine is associated with addiction while serotonin is associated with well being.  The body can get easily addicted to dopamine release, and once associated, addictions will “cross pollinate” and an addictive personality is born.  So please look for addictive patterns and don’t feed them, in yourselves or others.

On the other hand, serotonin is not really tied to addiction as it is slow releasing  usually requires some sort of initial effort or discomfort.  Exercise  stretching, breathing, as well as cold exposure and meditation all influence serotonin.  But most is created in your stomach.  So feed your stomach and not your mouth.

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Keeping it moving at FMHS

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No FNG’s but made sure to deliver a Disclaimer on this brisk 23-degree morning. The crowd was a little light this morning, but strong.

Warm-up

SSH x50- for Trucker

Quick stretch

Mosey- HS Lot- Toy Soldiers in between heading to big parking lot

Mosey to Hive area-

Circle up

  • Imperial Walker x20
  • Hillbilly Walker x20
  • Moroccan knight club x20

Mosey to Cut through

  • Shuffle/Karaoke
  • 20 squats

Mosey to light post

  • 5 burpees

The Thang

Mosey to front of school- Partner up for some DORA

  • 100- Flying squirrels
  • 200 merkins
  • 300 flutters- double count

 

Partner 1- works through the exercises until Partner 2 returns

Partner 2- Runs the outside of the parking lot area around the 4 posts

Flapjack until Exercise goal is reached

Head to the benches- 20 dips OYO

Find a spot on the curb for calf raises- 25 reg, 25 out, 25 in

During the calf raises, I reminded the PAX of the upcoming theme for February- Living. It was great timing after Ginsu’s message last week at the Fort on finding JOY in every day. With everything going on, that is unbelievably a challenge. We need to start asking ourselves why? Because we are trying to keep up with everyone else instead enjoying what is right in front of us? Or maybe we are holding on to old scars that keep our mind from enjoying the moment?  I need to work on this and try and fail every day. So much to be thankful for, but yet we (and I) struggle to live that way each day.  PAX reach out to your Whetstone, or me, and let’s work together to get there. AYE!

 

Mosey back to cut through

  • 15 LS squats/ 25 LBC’s/ 5 burpees

Mosey to end of parking lot to the curb and turn and face lot

  • Suicides- 4 lines x 3 three rounds. After each round, 5 merkins and 5 CDD

Mosey to COT

  • Heels to heaven
  • American hammers
  • Hello Dolly

COT-

Announcements-

Joe Davis- March 9th

YETI- Feb 23rd

OP Sweet Tooth- Virtual run in FT. Mill area. Check Pre-Blast

 

Praises-

JWWOW- family member cancer free (I might have messed that up but I think it is close)

PAX appreciation for the group that was present

Family

 

Prayers-

A lot of prayers went around which was positive. Good to hear PAX putting it out there for support

Laura

Rock Thrill’s daughter (recovery after a bad spill at school)

Family/ Children

And anyone else that was mentioned and missed.

Appreciate the PAX who made it happen today, and thanks LIL’ E for the opportunity.

 

Frat Boy

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The 2018 Fort Clave Boss 5k & Christmas Convergence

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0545 – Arrive at Palisades Elementary School AKA The Abyss where Bear Grylis is tailgating like its the Summer Concert tour and he’s at FORT-A_PALOOZA.

Ruckers and Runners were gathering and getting ready for a full morning of all 3 F’s. The Pre-Ruck led by Bonsai (as Worldwide Leader was MIA) got together and away they went.

YHC gathered all of the Clave Boss 5k runners and gave the instructions for the course. Signs were posted however it was still difficult for some to follow (Royale, Funhouse and some others) and they got 3.5mi surprise.

0605 – The 4th Annual Clave Boss 5k launched and 32 runners hit the hills of Palisades. This year we awarded Bundt Cakes to the first runner at various paces.

  1. MacGyver flew in at 20:47 6:60/mi and then went back to encourage other runners – True #HIM
  2. Sharkbait came in at 24:43 7.88/mi
  3. Islander rolled in at 27:10 8.74/mi
  4. Twister with a 31:25 10.08/mi
  5. Smuggler wrapped it up with a solid 34:11 11:00/mi

Appreciate all the participants. Next Year’s 5th Annual will be a special event for sure!!

0700 – Preruck has returned, Clave Boss has wrapped up and now more cars have entered the parking lot with PAX gathering all around. It was time to launch the convergence. YHC ask if there were FNGs, and we had 4 in attendance, gave the disclaimer. YHC then gave RUCK crew green light to jet with a 0750 COT. The remaining 75 or so PAX had YHC and Maximus for the next 50minutes

The Thang:

Mosey parking lot….20 SSHs, Go to other end of lot, Merkins, go to other end of lot for squats, back to other end of parking lot for LBCs

Line up in 6 lines, each line goes to a cone and each cone has exercise on it

  1. Merkins
    1. Bearcrawl
  2. Leg Lifts
    1. Lunge walk
  3. Wide Arm Merkins
    1. Run
  4. Donkey Kicks
    1. Bearcrawl
  5. Spider-man Merkins
    1. Lunge walk
  6. Sumo Squats
    1. Run

3 rounds of above, 5 reps, then 10 reps, then 15 reps

The mumble chatter was classic and the fellowship as always enjoyable

Handoff to Maximus

Mosey to back of School and line up in 6 lines for Pain Platoon

  1. Santini led squat routine that is always a crowd pleaser
    1. Burpees
  2. Pusher led Lunges
    1. Burpees
  3. Double D led Mc-tar-Ny ??
    1. Burpees
  4. Bubba Gump led SSHs
    1. Burpees
  5. 4 lines – turn to face one another – then Seal Team Sit ups–always a big crowd pleaser

Mosey to front of school for COT:

Plank while waiting on RUCK crew and 6 inches with Walker…..always fun!!

  • 93 was the count with 4 FNGs
    • Bo Knows
    • Ferris
    • Gaylord
    • Doubtfire

 

  • We Switzered to gather around and listing to Mr. Clean give a message and challenge to the PAX
    • I’m honored to speak with you today;
      Tomorrow (Christmas night) is the 1 year anniversary of me and the kids finding Cindy (my wife) unconscious. She was immediately put on life support
      Cindy died 3 days later from complications of MS and an addiction to alcohol
      I thought our life was on cruise control. I was being non -purposeful and non intentional. Being a single parent and grieving thru the tragic death of a spouse has been unreal.A few things I have learned from this that I would like to share.

      1. I have a much deeper awareness of emotional health. I have been humbled. Being humble creates avenue for change and growth. My question to you is…are you vulnerable and humble enough to let brothers in to help you?? Are you humble enough to ask for him if you are escaping reality w addictions? Alcohol, porn, etc
      2. I have a more real relationship w Christ.At a time when I doubted Christ care for me and my children and his desire to help our family Christ stepped in and answered a very exact prayer request. If you have doubts about Christ, speak to me please. I would love to share with you what He alone has done.
      3. I am thankful for the suffering. It has brought our family closer together. Even though I and the kids are miss Cindy everyday, we have so much to be thankful. I am thankful for the life that we had w Cindy. I am thankful that she is suffering no more. I am thankful that Cindy is made as new. Most importantly, am thankful for the birth of Christ. He gives us HOPE for a better day.
    • My Challenge to you is Love Deeper and Speak Sweeter. — too often people speak disrespectfully of their spouses and children and parents. Words matter and we all need to choose them wisely. We need to hold each other accountable and “get our heads out of our asses” as you never know when that person will be taken from you.

YHC can’t thank Mr Clean enough for this message and his friendship. over the last 2 years we have grown together to be better Christ followers, better husbands and fathers. He is such a great leader and I’m blessed to have him in my life.

If you need someone like this in your life, reach out to me and we’ll get you set up as there are a boatload of HIMs in the PAX

********ALERT***********ALERT**********ALERT*********ALERT***********ALERT****************

It was time for some major announcements in leadership. YHC has led as NANTAN for The Fort region for about 15months. Prior to that I was Weasel Shaker and prior to that 3rdF Q and in-between Site Qs of Ranch, Ballroom, Crossroads,, ChicknWizdim, and led CSAUP teams at P200, Kiawah and others.

It was time to hand over the keys to this well oiled machine to a new leader. A man I’ve watched grow and lead in all 3 F’s and lead well. First got to know him well on the 2014 BRR 9 man team. I was asked to attend Colombia mission with with him in 2015 that he led. Have Qd many times with him and attended a retreat in Boone with him in 2017 and saw his heart for God, Family and the PAX of The Fort. In 2018 he led BEYOND and pushed men to not only dig deep physically but to stretch themselves emotionally and spiritually. This sealed it for me that this man understood leadership and that men needed to be Freed to Lead.

MAXIMUS is the new NANTAN of The Fort!

I personally am excited for this next chapter and look forward to more men being Freed to Lead by his example and inspiration. With this change, some other leaders have stepped up as well.

  • Weasel Shaker = Funhouse
  • 1stFQ = Royale
  • 2ndFQ = Wegmans
  • 3rdFQ = Gecko

I personally want to thank Old Bay for years of leadership and more importantly friendship. I true HIM who makes so much happen behind the scenes that there is no way The FORT would be where it is today without him.

Also, want to thank Anchorman for 2nd F Q during my time as Nantan, as well as all his leadership at Footloose, encouraging guys to push themselves and the many great ideas and ways to challenge the PAX. Appreciate you brother!

BOM – Gecko had great words to close out this convergence. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus and all of the Holidays, I pray we find JOY in everything and not take anything for granted. I appreciate all the PAX and my brothers of THE GLOOM.

Cake Boss

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16 got Brenton’d at the Honey Badger

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16 brave little badgers got their man card punched this morning at the best AO in The Fort Region – The Honey Badger.

This AO is always a little bit harder, and a little bit longer than the rest. If you fight badger on Monday, and start your week like a hero – the rest of the week is a little bit easier.

This week we honored Officer Timothy Brenton.  Brenton, husband and father of two, was killed in the line of duty on October 31, 2009

The Brenton workout calls for five rounds of bear crawls (100 ft) standing broad jumps (100 ft) with 3 burpees after every five jumps. We modified this slightly to bear crawls of 100 yards, and broad jumps of 100 yards with 3 burpees every 10 yards. We also added a 400 meter run in between sets.

This is the second time the Brenton has made it to the Honey Badger – both times it was modified to 100 yards. So we are adopting this as the new standard.

Prayers to all effected by Hurricane Florence

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