Tag: Router

Convergence: Love & a passing of the flag

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Station 1 (Santini): Traditional Pain Platoon

Just your basic beat the hell out of your legs exercises of lunges, squats, and burpees intermixed with meditation and box breathing exercises. Sprint to the top of the hill, recover, and do more exercises including Moroccan night clubs and Carolina dry docks.

NMM: Anxiety and gratitude are not able to occupy the same space.

Station 2 (Shady / Maximus)

Warmup (Shady) – 21 SSH, 5 burpees, 18 SSH, 5 burpees, 12 SSH, someone whined about burpees so we did 10 diamonds merkins…then did 5 burpees
Group 1
  • partnered up and Dora style started out with 100 pull-ups.  Partner 1 on the pull-up bar, partner 2 did a lap around the playgroud
  • Stayed on playground, stayed with partner, Partner 1 AMRAP merkins while partner 2 ran the length of the playground and back to AMRAP merkins
  • Stayed on the AMRAP theme with flutters, then back to merkins, then back to flutters…then (I think) time was called

Group 2

  • Partnered up and Dora style, but this time 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground (Q modification given time and we aren’t cyborgs)
  • AMRAPs were just 1 round of merkins and flutters (again, I think…may need a lifeline here from Max)
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 American hammers..we did this twice
  • W/ time to spare we ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for 10 V-ups
  • In buzzer beater fashion, we ran to the top again for 10 ranger merkins and ran to the bottom for a partner 1 lay on the ground and grab partner 2s ankles where partner 2 would throw partner 1s feet down 10 times as you straight leg lifted them to his face

Group 3

  • Dora style 50 pull-ups with the run around the playground
  • We made our way to the hill with the statue where Maximus laid down the NUR up the hill and at the top 10 bomb jacks and ran to the bottom where we did 20 american hammers..we did this twice
  • Running low on time ran to the top for 10 diamond merkins and ran to the bottom for the ankle grabbing / feet throwing core exercise 10 times
NMM: After each of the groups had done their pull-ups, Maximus and Shady shared their thoughts and experiences on LOVE.
  • Shady – areas of focus were loving your brother and being your brothers keeper.  Sending a text or reaching out to someone to just say “hey, thinking of you” could change their day.  Realizing that the ones you love are watching you, emulating you, picking up on good and bad habits.  Realizing we don’t know it all, especially to the ones we love, is a sign of humility and a factor of growth and development.  For those of us with children, we have never been parents before so we honestly have no idea what we’re doing.  Love starts with servant leadership and personally for YHC, this usually progresses when the mouth is shut and ears are open.
  • Maximus – For my discussion on love, it begins with being intentional as love is a decision. We must make the decision to be intentional with our actions. Whether it be in our faith, marriage, parenting of our kids, with friends and yes, even with work relationships, we must be intentional. Think about how easy it is to get distracted, whether at dinner with your wife or even on a Zoom call for work. We often allow our minds to wander or even start doing something else while the other person is talking, looking for our engagement. Stop. Be the person who is present in the moment. Put the shoe on the other foot. Love that person as your relationship to them allows.

Station 3 (Pusher & Cakeboss): Love Edition

COP
  • SSHs
  • Windmills
  • Squats
  • Mtn Climbers
  • Merkins
  • IWs
Cake Boss spells love “B-U-R-P-E-E”
The Thang
  • Jacobs Ladder with Derkins and Monkey Humpers
  • Plank/Dip sequence
  • Bear crawl to top with burpees
NMM:
  • Cord of 3 strands cannot be broken. Having God in your marriage is the 3rd string. Adding communication to the marriage strengthens it. – CB
  • Gifts vs Gaps. Focus on the gifts that your wife or significant other bring vs what she is missing. Seeing her this way builds love. – Pusher
  • Much love was on display with all of the mumblechatter and fellowship. The relationships formed through F3 has increased our love internally and is reflected outward to our Ms, 2.0s, PAX and community… #morethanaworkout

Shovel Flag hand off for two leadership positions in the Fort:

Shady handed off the Nantan role to Double D
Esso handed off the Weasel Shaker role to YHC

Awesome work by the PAX today. Hard to put into words how much improved my disposition on life is since moving back to Fort Mill because of F3. Grateful for an opportunity to serve the PAX of The Fort.

NMM: Double D was the site-Q at Block Party when I started posting. If it wasn’t for his steady presence with a commitment to the integrating 2nd F and 3rd F elements into each workout, I doubt I’d have kept posting. Double D is a genuine human, I’m a better dude for knowing him, and I’m excited for his leadership.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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Milkshake Found and Not Found

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Six pax posted for Milkshake with half rucking it.  The route and exercises are in the image below.

Through the walk I presented sayings/things that people generally think are from the Bible…but really are not.  These are:

The forbidden apple in the garden of Eden: Bible does not specify it was an apple.

Three wise men: there was three gifts…but the number of wise men is not specified.

A whale swallowed Jonah: Original translations say a “great fish”.

Money is the root of all evil: 1 Timothy 6:10 actually says that the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.

God works in mysterious ways: Isaiah 55:8-9 says that God’s ways are different from ours, not mysterious as U2 may want us to believe.

God helps those who help themselves: nope not there. Variations are proverbial statements in ancient Greek tragedies. The Quran (13:11) has something similar. An English politician gave us the exact wording, which Benjamin Franklin quotes in Poor Richard’s Almanac.

But these next sayings are FROM the Bible:

Escaping by the skin of your teeth: Job says he escaped with his life by the skin of his teeth in Job 19:20.

A house divided against itself cannot stand: not honest Abe but Jesus when rebuffing Pharisee charges that he was casting out demons because He was possessed Himself, Jesus uttered the phrase.

A drop in the bucket: To demonstrate the enormity of God, the prophet coins the phrase in Isaiah 40:15: “the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered as a speck of dust in the scales.”

Scapegoat: In the Old Testament, two goats were chosen for the Day of Atonement. One was sacrificed, but Leviticus 16:10 speaks of the scapegoat, which was released into the wilderness to carry away the sins of the people.

Writing is on the wall: No one knew what the writing on the wall in Daniel 5 meant, until God gave Daniel the interpretation that the kingdom would be taken away from the king.

Fini.

Milkshake route and exercises

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Run, do this. Run, do this…

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It’s Sweep The Leg, the start to a new week, it’s supposed to be a challenge and the headlights kept on coming. Man, what a great day in The Fort. As my Q slots continued over this past week, I’ve been reminded of several things, mostly encouraging. One of those is that if you’re willing to make the workout/route/plan more challenging, guys will show up.
Let’s be honest, it’s humbling yet exciting to see guys show up to your Q so why not make it worth it. That was the aim this morning.

Simple? Yes
Effective? I hope so
Worth it? For sure

We had 29 total.
Redwoods and guys who just hit the 2wk mark.
7min/mile guys and 12min/mile guys.
14yo – 50+yo

The Thang:
Disclaimer and just a few warm up things
Run to the teacher lot at the entrance to GHES
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to Velux on the corner of 160
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to Horizon Bank
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to Model A
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run back up to Famous Toastery
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run to South State Bank
5 Burpees – 10 Tuck Jumps – 15 Merkins

Run back to the Earth Fare lot for 4 Corners:
Corners 1 & 3: 10 Alternating V-Ups
Corners 2 & $: 20 X’s & O’s

All in all, everyone got 3.2mi+ and some got closer to 4mi.

How will you follow that up this week? After all, you’re up 1-0 now go live life as a servant leader.

Maximus

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Tour de Golden Corral

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2020 was a bad year. COVID, death, etc. I am a creature of routine and nearly ALL of them were interrupted or flat out stopped. My cheese was moved big time. I was also in a big time headspace rut. Down on myself. Coming off an injury filled 2nd half of 2019. Body and mind tapped out. No motivation at all to get out and post. This was my 2020. Lutefisk, among others, knew that and kept at me to get out. Then he triple dog dared me with a Q request. A few of them. After turning a couple down I finally said enough is enough and I am going to get the heck out and try to put together a Q that is somewhat respectable. Thank you Lutefisk for keeping after me!! You are much appreciated!

Great morning. Great crowd gathered and the mumblechatter was wonderful. I admit I was nervous. I had not Q’d in a year or so. I made a few disclaimers and off we went. No warmups. Right into it.

The deal was pretty simple. We ran a loop of about 1.8miles, with stops for fun time at the following locations: frontside of Walgreens near Burn Boot Camp; across Gold Hill, down Lake Vista Rd to its end near the Y; back across Gold Hill to the side wall of Harris Teeters; behind the shopping center to our favorite dumpster behind Red Bowl; across Stockbridge and up the cell tower hill; to the far corner of the parking lot of Grace Presbyterian Church; then back to COT. At each of these stops, 8 total including starting at the COT and finishing at the COT, we did the following:

* 25 SSH
* 15-25 Merkin
* 25 Reverse LBC
* 25 LSS
* All were 4-count, in cadence (rather rapid)
* Plank ~2min for discussion time

Everyone did great. Shop Vac hung in there, he made it to every stop except one, and he did all the exercises!! Keep pushing it SV!! The mublechatter was great, and the group did real well watching their form. YHC had the enjoyment of nearly going face-first into some deer poop in the grass near the cell tower. Lovely. We all got a kick out of that!

COT, P&P:
* READ YOUR NEWSLETTER. Get involved. Invigorate the leader in you.
* A lot going on in everyone’s lives. I made it a point to stop by each of the PAX and have them offer a prayer and a praise, a la CSPAN.  We lifted up quite a lot to our Lord!

NMM – Foundations:
At each stop I pieced together the following. All around us in Fort Mill, Charlotte, etc. we see development, improvement, building, “progress” and such. You can’t go anywhere without seeing it.  The first thing builders do is prep the ground to handle the foundation, then build the foundation solid and strong. That takes some time to do, then they continue from there. They know that without a solid, strong foundation that is securely connected to the structure, whatever it is they’re building will NOT last long, nor will it be able to withstand stresses, etc, from storms or whatever it is exposed to.

When we are drawn to F3, as well as throughout our F3 journey, we are set out to improve ourselves in many ways – physically, mentally, socially, spiritually, etc. We strive to become better, stronger, faster. We start slow then progress as we become better and better. Each day we move ahead in our progress, we lay a brick in our structure of becoming a better person.

My challenge to the PAX was for them to gauge their foundation. What are we building on, and what is the basis on why we are trying to get better? Your foundation should be your relationship with the Lord, and it needs to be as strong, solid, and connected as you can possibly get it. Most people reach out to the Lord when they are in need. There is nothing wrong with that at all, better then than never. But that does not always yield a solid foundation that can endure even the most strongest of storms.  The best way to build a strong relationship with the Lord is to abide in Him every day. Become a son to Him, and let Him be your Father. Let His word marinate in your mind, heart, and soul to where it becomes a guiding force in your life, helping steer you to good decisions, words, and actions. Trust in him completely, with personal abandonment. When you do that with dedication, discipline, and consistency, your foundation will be one which can handle anything life throws at you, at any given time.

“Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” – Psalm 119:105

Stay connected and trust that the Lord will guide you.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead. SYITG
-NASA

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Fresh off GR021, we’re now at the Fire Ant

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If you were one of the 20 PAX that attended Fire Ant today, you heard me talk briefly about the impact of GR021 (GrowRuck 021) in Louisville this past weekend. Along with Olaf, Shady, Italian Job and Dark Helmet, I was blessed to participate in this extremely impactful weekend. Much like the rest of F3, the true benefits go way beyond the workout or in this case, the 14hr team ruck event spanning Saturday night into Sunday morning.

I tried to bring back just a taste of what we experienced and some of my learnings but unless you actually participate in these GrowRuck weekends, it’s hard to comprehend. However, I did want to bring a taste of the PT to our local PAX and so with 19 other Ruckers, we did the following.

Disclaimer

Warm Up
Jog, Knees to chest, Jog, Toy Soldiers, Butt Kickers, Jog back to our rucks

SSH x 5
Windmills x 5
SSH x 10
Windmills x 5

Ruck Up
Rucks overhead for a 30ct
Ruck Curls x 20 IC
Squat hold with rucks overhead for a 20ct
Ruck swings x 20
Tricep Extensions x 20 IC
Squat with ruck press x 10 IC

2 line ruck shuffle to back lot & ground the rucks
3-tier suicides then ruck up
Bear crawl to the far suicide line and plank
Bear crawl back to the half way point and circle up
Slick-dying cockroach x 30IC
BEAR ROACH for a while (I think we did a total of 20 to the left and 20 to the right). For this exercise, you get into a bear crawl position with your ruck on then upon command, roll over to the dying cockroach position. Upon command, get back to the bear crawl position.

2 line ruck shuffle back to the first starting spot and circle up
5 Merkins – 10 Carolina Dry Dock – 15 Bent Over Rows (all IC)
5 Squats – 5 lunges each leg
2 line ruck march back to COT

Announcements:
Read your newsletter
SIGN UP FOR THE F3 10YR
SIGN UP FOR A FUTURE GROWRUCK

SYITG
Maximus

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16 for minutes at The Ranch

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15 PAX joined YHC this morning for minutes at the Ranch. I wanted to try something a little different which can be a challenge but thankfully, all were willing to test it out. It was touch and go with ShopVac and Nature Boy at the start but fortunately, they decided to stay with us.

Here’s the deal. One exercise for 1 minute followed by a 10 second rest. Then an exercise for 1 minute followed by a 10 second rest. We did that from 0515-0600. The exercises are listed below but know that there is a 10 second rest between each.

Side Straddle Hops
Windmills
Jog
Squats
Calf Raises
Run
Peter Parkers
Parker Peters
Run
Carolina Dry Dock
Air Press
Run
Left side lunge
Right side lunch
Run
Box Cutters
Freddie Mercury
Run
Wide-Arm Merkins
Overhead Claps
Run
Jump Squats
Squats while on the balls of your feets
Run
X’s & O’s
Flutters
Run
Diamond Merkins
Bent over rows
Run
Reverse Lunges
Run
Plank
Run
LBC’s

Back to COT

Simple yet hopefully the PAX found it effective.

Until next time.
SYITG

Maximus

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Dropkicked at The Rock

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BAOPS. It’s an acronym  that Trucker has been pushing, almost devoting himself to, with regard to the AO, Alcatraz, he now oversees. If you’ve been living under a rock for the last several weeks, let me enlighten you on Tega Cay’s own “Rock.”

Rather than being on its own island, our version of Alcatraz is almost at the end of a peninsula. Rather than water with treacherous currents, our version has streets with treacherous hills.
Just as you have to plan some extra time to get to THAT Alcatraz, you also have to plan some extra drive time to get to our version of Alcatraz…it’s way down TC Drive.

When Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary was in operation, it housed the hardest, most notorious criminals of its day. In Trucker’s verbiage, BAOPS stands for the “Baddest Area of Operations (AO) for Pain on Saturday.” Consistent with the last several weeks, some of the most hard-charging PAX from The Fort & Rock Hill (The Rock-how fitting) posted at Alcatraz this morning. Some even thought they rolled up on a convergence when they drove in with all the cars.

21 PAX (welcome Suplex) joined Router & YHC for a total of 23 to embark on a twist of a workout this morning. It’s been a minute since we’ve had Router post with us but consistent with our memory, he was prepared to bring it. After we were disclaimed and he shared with us his plan to put us through some conditioning (as part of the strength & conditioning workout), we took off for a warm-up mosey, ultimately leading us to the top of “the hill” on the back side of the park. This time however, we’d be going the other direction.
So here’s the deal, we’re running segments, of which there are 3. Segment 1, you’re running to your “pukey” limit. You know what that is; the place you get to where you’re about to splash. Yeah, get in that zone. Run it to the stop sign just past the Firehouse and do a recovery run back to the start. Then pukey-limit run to the stop sign and run to what amounts to the trail entrance just past the COT parking lot and recovery run the remaining trek back to the start. Now, pukey run that whole thing. Oh no, then….do a few more of those segments again but honestly, this is where the wheels started to come off as the PAX spread out and nobody was exactly sure what to do next . So, some ran more, some did some mary and some picked up the six. Yup, just as planned.
Then…oh dear Lord, this is where we take it to the next phase and you think your heart is going to pop out of your eye socket. Router takes us to the bottom of the hill, yes that hill. He explains his plan for 30/60/90. Fortunately, we never made it to 90 but nevertheless, when he says GO, we’re to take off up the hill, running for 30 seconds until he says stop. Yeah, that was tough but he made us go back down the hill to do the 60. Run up the hill and keep running for 60 seconds. Now that was B-RUTAL. Fortunately it was now 0701 and it was time to hand off to Maximus for the strength portion of the strength & conditioning.

With Max on Q, we would slow mosey (oh, thank you) back to the parking lot, pull a Switzer at one end and drop to a plank (ala Honey Badger). Next up, a nod to a USMC Serviceman named Cpl Albert (Bert) Gettings, 27, of New Castle, PA. Yup, we’re doing a modified BERT. If you’ve never done the real Bert, go give it a run and recap it to me afterward. Cpl. Albert Gettings was killed in action Jan 5, 2009 while conducting counter-sniper operations in Fallujah, Iraq. He was serving as a team leader with the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force out of Camp Lejeune, NC.

HERE WE GO!!!
25 Burpees
50m Bear Crawl to the other end of the parking lot
50 Hand-Release Merkins
50m Bear Crawl
80 Walking lunges
Bear Crawl back
50 Squats
50m Bear Crawl
80 Carolina Dry Docks
50m Bear Crawl
Mary til the six is in

In closing, please do yourself a favor, push yourself to do something more challenging than what you thought you were capable of. Not just in the 1st F although that is a great start, but in the 2nd & 3rd, too. This world needs it now and frankly, you’ve been built and called for this. Do not be a wallflower.

Announcements: Gears starting a new hard-hitting AO this Monday, 6/1. Classroom Ready partnership oppty coming soon from Bonsai, Q-Source is for everyone, AO’s opening back up week of 6/8, big ‘ol convergence 7/11 and several other announcements.

Prayer Request: PAX going through job/life transitions. Our country always but especially now with community tensions. Health of family/friends.

SYITG
Router & Maximus

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Boss Hogg Issued a Challenge at the Ballroom and the PAX did not Disappoint!!!

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Boss Hogg threw out a challenge to see how many PAX would show up at the Ballroom.  As usual, the PAX did not disappoint.  39 was the count.

Boss Hogg arrived in his all white Q outfit.  Disclaimer was given.  A quick message was given about the power of being an influencer.  PAX were reminded to always pick up the 6 and to encourage the guys around them.

The Thang:

Mosey to the center of the football field for a quick warmup:

  • 15 SSHs
  • 10 Windmills
  • 15 Imperial Walkers
  • 15 Cherry Pickers
  • 15 Hillbilly Walkers
  • 15 Gas Pumpers (THE Twisters favorite exercise)

Next was a Guillermo 1-2-3 (Dora’s little brother).  Similar to a Dora but PAX break up into two groups instead of pairing off in partners.  All exercises are done in cadence with a focus on form, not speed.

Exercises were:

  • 100 Overhead Claps
  • 200 LBCs
  • 300 Low Slow Squats

The other group started at the goal line, bear crawled to the 20, ran to the 50, did 1 burpee, and returned to the goal line.  Teams switched back and forth until all exercises were complete.

With the remaining time, the PAX moved to the track for some large dice fun.  One die contained the name of an exercise on each side.  The other 4 were used to determine the count.  Dice were rolled, exercises were done, and the PAX moved 1/4 of the way around the track.  This was repeated until the group had moved all the way around the track.

Time was up and the group headed back to COT.  Announcements were made.  Prayer requests focused on physical healing and marriages.  Due to the overwhelming support from the PAX in attendance, $1,000 was donated to Classroom Ready.

A great reminder to all PAX, don’t just be influenced but go out and be influencers!

 

 

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In honor of Yoshi turning 13

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I had the privilege of Qing for the first time in quite some time. Thank you for the opportunity, 38 Special!

In honor of my son turning 13 soon (an American teenager!), most rep counts today were 13 in nature, single count for most of them.

4:45 was a run to Palmetto West and back

5:00 was more running past Lakeshore Christian Church and through the stairs backway to the Pantheon

5:15 boot camp and runners split. Disclosures stated.

Small warm-up with SSHs, various leg stretches, and windmills.

Ran to backside of TC Elementary to gradually rotate around the school and did 3 exercises per random location to include:

Reverse Lunges, Bench Jumps, Incline Merkins

Turkish Get-ups, Air Mountain Climbers or Goofballs, Lunges

Merkins, Jump ups (super high), Bear Crawls

Pull ups, Broad jump, Cross jumps (creating a cross)

Mountain climbers, High knees, Spiderman crawls

More bear crawls, Jump down from benches focusing on solid landing, Dips

75% effort level sprints X 2, Bear Crawls

Thought about stealing the Broga-boyz shoes – (yes, this was an exercise)

 

Then on to Circuit Training: The timer was the jump rope to 100 and then we rotated.

Shoulder press with a Spartan bag

Sandbag pickups and over the shoulder throws

KB individual curls

Band curls

 

Ended with various ab exercises as a group to include, but not limited to: Starfish crunches, Side crunches, Cockroach, and everyone’s favorite, Russian V-twist get-ups.

COT to include announcements, LOTS OF PRAISES, and some prayers.

Blessings to all!

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Runnin’ Long Laps at The Pond

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Minnow Pond on a brisk 35 degree morning? Sure, I’ll bite. This one’s gonna be short on content but heavy  on work. First I must say that it was good to see some of the not-so-regular guys at this edition.

We had 2 post for extra-extra credit, a few more post at 0500 for the extra credit. Finally at 0514, 10 of us made our way over to Ol’ Glory for The Pledge Of Allegiance. Have I said that I do love this tradition ‘Shanks has established.

Ok, it’s 0515 and here is your brief disclaimer to cover the bases. After that, we took off up the Massey hill just to pull a U-turn at the Church and run it back to the Minnow Pond parking lot for a little more warming up:

SSH & some 180 degree jump squats…THAT’S IT, after all, you just ran up and down that hill.

We then took off on our 1.1mi loop that we’d get more comfortable with. Again, go up the Massey hill but this time, go down to the gas station.
Post up at the gas station for our first set of exercises. Every time we stop, we’d be doing the same 3 exercises and the same number of reps.

(20) 2ct Flutters
(15) Jump Squats
(10) Hand-Release Merkins

Take off to make a R/T on Harris St
R/T on McCammon St
Straight through the light to the Founders Bank parking lot for

(20) 2ct Flutters
(15) Jump Squats
(10) Hand-Release Merkins

Take off to make a R/T on Clebourne St
R/T on Main St
Back to the Veterans Memorial flags for

(20) 2ct Flutters
(15) Jump Squats
(10) Hand-Release Merkins

So that is 1 lap and the goal is to do this repeatedly to ensure you cover the 3mi minimum but also including the exercises at each of the 3 stops on each lap.

Some of the PAX got close to 3mi. Some got over 3.5mi but all pushed and got pushed.

READ YOUR NEWSLETTER

Maximus

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