Tag: Senator Tressel

Two Minute Drill

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Six runners met at Earthfare for some early morning speedwork at Brayden.  Here is what they did:

The Thang:

After watches were set, the pax were disclaimed as we did a warm-up mosey along Len Patterson drive into the Brayden neighborhood.   We took a left at Emory Lane, off of Brayden Parkway,  and paused at the intersection of Emory and Helton Lane.    The plan for this morning was  to run the loop formed by these two roads and alternate between 5K pace and a recovery jog,  every 2 minutes.

The Pax completed 7 or 8 intervals and then ran a cool-down jog back to COT.  As this AO is listed as running with pain stations, we finished with 30 merkins, 30 Freddie Mercury’s, and 3 Superman holds (20 sec ea).

COT

NMM

This is one of my ‘go-to’ running workouts that I’ve done for years to break up the monotony of running at the same pace, day after day.  It’s similar to a track workout, but to me is more fun on the road because of the addition of hills, and things to look at along the way.  Not as fun in the dark at 5:15, but still a good day on the roads!

Announcements, Prayers, Praises:

Memorial convergence and service for our brother, Shop Vac , this Saturday at the Armory  (Palmetto Funeral Home).

Senator Tressel’s frend, Joe with cancer;  Cornerstone (kidney stone), marriages

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Good Morning at the Ranch

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Five Fort Millians converged at Springfield Elementary for another day at the Ranch.  Here is what they did:

The Thang:

After introductions and a disclaimer, we recognized Sean Kelly (Shop Vac) with a moment of silence.  We then moseyed to the middle school and circled up at the pickup line in front of the new retaining wall.

COP, All in cadence:

SSH x 30, IW x 20, Merkin x 10, Windmill x 15, Squat x 20, LBC x 25, Jumping lunge x 20, Carolina Dry Dock x 20, Cherry Picker x 15, Mountain climber x 25

Form a line at the back of the road facing the new retaining wall and complete the following circuit five times:

10 merkins, run to the wall, climb over and run to the upper road, turn left and run back to the start.  Plank up when finished.

Mosey to the back of the elementary school and meet up on the cement basketball court. Split into two groups and complete the following:

Group 1 runs to the pullup bars and does 7 burpee pullups, while group 2 does squats (flapjack)

Repeat with group 2 doing Freddie Mercurury’s (flapjack)

Repeat with group 2 doing calf raises (flapjack)

Mosey back to our starting point at the elementary school for mini-ablab (all in cadence)

V-up x 10, Hello Dolly x 20, Superman hold x 30.  End with the Body Destroyer

COT

NMM

Thursdays have always been a running day for me with F3, but since I’ve scaled back the last couple of years, The Ranch has been my regular stop on Thursday mornings as of late.  I have not Q’d here in a long, long time and it was good to get back at it.  The group was pretty quiet at the start and I didn’t hear much of anything even during COP (I think Tesh was the only one counting with me).  Later on in the workout, he and Uhaul engaged in their usual chatter   (one of the topics today was Brittany Spears of all people -hahahaha).   It was a pleasure to lead the group today and I look forward to next Thursday.

Prayers/Praises:

Shop Vac’s family

ST’s friend Joe with cancer

Those recovering from Covid-19

 

 

 

 

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One more beach body workout

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This week’s Q was constructed under a very sobering atmosphere. With the news of the passing of ShopVac, YHC tried to find a way to honor him with our actions this morning. However I’d only worked out with him a handful of times and hadn’t been able to attend any of his Qs. So the only way I know how to honor a HIM like that is to sweat it.

The gloom

7 appeared in the gloom at Pantheon, including Scalp, whom I had been trying to recruit to Q for some time. Guess I’ll have to pester him some more

warmup

A quick mosey down to the west side of the parking lot and over to the crosswalk for:

10x SSH
10x Cherry Picker
10x Imperial Walker

The thang

Today’s workout is a derivative of Slapshot’s “pendulum” workout, but with a simpler twist. Rather than keeping track of separate counts, just start at 15 each side and only subtract one each round. Less confusing and more painful, really.

PAX started at the crosswalk and ran east to the end of the sidewalk. Down on the six for 15 BBSUs. Back to the crosswalk, pausing for 3 burpees, and then running around the bend to the bike racks for 15 4-count flutters. Back to the crosswalk for another 3 burpees. Do this again with 14 reps, then 13, you get the idea.

With about eight minutes left Senator Tressel was able to get down to 4 reps, having lapped most of us TWICE. (He may be wearing a knee brace, but he doesn’t perform like it). Scalp was on 5 reps, and the rest of us on 6.  At this point I asked the PAX to let me know when we had five minutes left, to which they replied “we have two minutes left”.

“LOL, sure we do, guys. It’s a tough workout <changes watch screens>… oh, crap. Let’s get back to COT!”

Original plan was to use the last five minutes to do Lutefisk’s delightful “vacuum cleaner” routine in ShopVac’s honor. But it just wasn’t meant to be.

cot

Name-o-rama with all PAX opting to say “ShopVac, 56, Sean Kelley”.  YHC asked all present to speak any words they may have about ShopVac, followed by a brief discussion about being seen in the dark (in no way referring to our brother’s circumstances, of which none of us are cognizant). And prayers for the family and all involved…

nmm

Use your time well…

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Fecta-Traz

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11 pax posted at Alcatraz on another warm humid day.
This co-Q was the third Q in my birthday Trifecta (Ranch #1, Varsity was #2).

First Q at bat was Ruby Slippers who gave the disclaimer and warmup:
Cherry pickers, windmills, Peter parkers, parker peters (10x IC).

Thang 1: HIIT
At the playground area of Runde park.  Pax split into three groups. Exercise for 1 minute the groups move to next station.
station 1: pull ups (dead hang if you can’t do anymore)
station 2: Step ups
station 3: LBC
Next iteration was:
station 1: pull up and toes to bar (dead hang if you can’t do anymore)
station 2: Lunges
station 3: flutters
Next iteration:
station 1: Do one pull up and hold at the top.  Goal is 1 min; do a slow negative pull up if needed but hang on to the bars.
station 2: Lunges
station 3: V-ups

Thang 2: Field Sprints (with Merkins)
Pax line up on the outfield
Run at 50% for first 30 feet, then sprint/100% to end of the outfield.
Pax do 20 merkins.
Do the same run routine described above. At end pax do 18 merkins.
Rinse and repeat downwards to two merkins.

Q transition to Harry Carry.

Started with a run as a group in the surrounding neighborhood.  Simple loop of approximately ½ mile. Returned to Runde Park’s lot.

Thang 3: Prison Yard Burpees
Pax split into two groups.  Each group has a basketball half-court as their prison yard.
Groups start in corner 1 does 10 burpees.  Then bear crawl (alternate method allowed was lunge walk) to next corner and do 9 burpees.  Proceed with the descending count of burpees and bear crawls until 1 burpee is reached.

Run again as a group, different route, hit the hill on Tara Tea Drive. Distance of about 1/3 mile. Return to Runde Park’s lot.

Thang 4: Bear vs Crab Soccer
Done on a basketball court.  Cones used at each end to mark a ‘goal’.
Split pax in two teams
15lb slam ball is mid court
Team 1 bear crawls only, Team 2 crab walks only
Get the ball and try to score
One team did score, don’t remember who.  We did switch animals at some point.

Game was called when a bear tried to eat a crab.

Non-Mary: Monkey Humpers, Imperial walkers (both 10xIC).

Fini. COT

It was quite a spectacle to see pax go after the slam ball and had some scrums too.  A few pax were even able to ‘throw’ the slam ball…may have to modify the rules for future games.  This was good clean fun.
Quite a great way to end my Trifecta of Q’s.  Great group of HIMs we have in our region.

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Fast 5 friendly, except…

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Remember, the Fast 5 was kicking off 2 hours post-COT so we need to make this one leg friendly. I got the memo but apparently, Bonsai did not. While the complaining in the second half ramped up, we knew we’d all be better for it.
With Maximus up for the first 30mins, here’s what happened:

We moseyed around lap around the park with Toy Soldiers and Butt Kickers thrown in for good measure.
Back in the parking lot, we did some slow squatting, 3-way calf raises and wide-arm Merkins

At the playground:
Group 1: 15 Pull-Ups & 30 Merkins
Group 2: American Hammers until Group 1 is done
Due to some questionable form, we did that one again with 10 Pull Ups and 20 Merkins.

Group 1: 15 Pull-Ups & 30 Carolina Dry Docks
Group 2: Freddy Mercury’s until Group 1 is done

Back to the lot for 10 Burpees, Boats & Canoes, Grave Diggers and Super Mans

Hand off to Bonsai:

We moseyed to the area at Fire Dept wall:
Level 1 Drill – 10 each
Merkins / Mountain Climbers, Hip Thrusters (questionable call)
25 LBCs
30sec Wall Sit
Repeat then run to the basketball court and back

25 Dirty Myrtle
15 Mike Tysons
25 American Hammers
25 Squats
Repeat then run to the basketball court and back

30sec BTTW
20 Plank Jack
10 Lunges each leg
15 Leg raises
Repeat then run to the basketball court and back

Bear crawl some, mosey, 30sec 6″ Merkin hold, mosey

COT

Maximus & Bonsai

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Fabulous Four

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A small, but dedicated group of four hit the rock this morning for a workout with  sandbags and some old Alcatraz classics.  Here is what they did:

The Thang:

Skipper on Q:

Disclaimer and mosey on the path around the park.  We bypassed the pull up bars for now, but the Pax would  not escape them completely today.  Circle up on the lot for COP:

All in cadence:

SSH x 20, Merkin x 10 (hold plank), Peter parker x 10, Parker peter x 10, MC x 10).  Mosey to the other side of the lot and pick up two sand bags.  Partner up.

Dora 123:  Partner 1 does the exercise while partner 2 carries the sandbag to the basketball hoop, does 5 squats, and returns to the start.

Exercises:  100 diamond merkins, 200 big boy situps, 300 shoulder taps.  At about midway through the shoulder taps, Skpper made the call to modify and swapped squats for shoulder taps, and 10 sandbag throws out and back in place of carrying the sandbag and doing squats (GOOD CALL – I was getting smoked and I believe the others were too!)

Hand off to Senator Tressel

Line up in the field for 40 yd sprints out and back with short recovery.  I believe we did 5 sets, maybe 6.  Recover and walk to the concession stand wall for the Strong Square:

Starting at the wall, assume BTTW and walk on your hands the length of the wall, lunge walk to about the 2nd base line, backwards bearcrawl towards the fire station, and power skip back to the start.  Repeat this 2 more  times.

Mosey to the playground for pull ups (10), reverse step ups (10L/10R), and big boy sit ups (20).  We did 3 sets.

Mosey back to the field for 2 minutes of Mary:  Freddie Merc x 20, Pretzel crunch x 10.

End with 60s of Body Destroyer (my favorite)

COT

It was a pleasure to lead the group today with Skipper.  We had a good mix of newer exercises (seeing a lot of sandbags at workouts these days) and stuff we did years ago (40 yd sprints and walking on your hands).  With a smaller group, we moved from exercise to exercise quickly and didn’t waste a lot of time.  Everyone left it out there today and I felt we gave them their money’s worth.  Well done, men!

Announcements:  Fastest 5K next Saturday, Stuff the bus for Ft. Mill schools, read your newsletter

Prayers/praises:  raising teenagers, families traveling, new job in NY for a college grad, and famlies and friends with cancer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Lakeside Park

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Six of the Fort’s finest met at Runde park and answered the call for Alcatraz on the Lake.  Here is what they did.

The Thang:

Full disclaimer with the usual verbiage of ‘I am not a professional, it’s a voluntary workout, modify as needed, can’t sue the Q or F3,  etc..’.   Since we were going into Lake Wylie today, YHC added that if you drown or contract an illness from a waterborne parasite, you also cannot sue the Q or F3.  Off we went…..

The mosey to Pitcarin Park is about 0.6 miles and we had the usual chatter en route.  Cyclops carried the flag as we cruised along and he planted it on a  hill near the lake side.

Senator Tressel on Q

Everybody up on the floating dock for COP  (All in cadence)

IW x 20, merkin x 10, Squat x 20, MC x 20, Freddie Merc x 20, wide arm merkin x 10, Morrocan Nightclub x 40 and start walking toward the stairs at the lower parking lot.

Partner up and wheelbarrow up the stairs to the upper parking lot, across the lot, and up the cement stairs to the picnic benches.  Flapjack with your partner about 1/2 way through.  When you reach the picnic bench, do 20 bomb jacks, run back to the start.

Repeat the wheelbarrow, but with 20 burpees at the picnic benches, run back.

Repeat the wheelbarrow, but do 40 dips at the picnic benches.

Change Order on Q

Mosey down to the upper lot and do a series of ab exercises (Flutters, LBC’s, Protractor, other).

Mosey to the dock, remove your shoes and shirt and jump in the lake.  Tread water for about 5 minutes.

Back on the dock, do some merkins, squats, abs, and then jump back in the lake.  Tread water for about 3 minutes.

Naken Man Moleskin

Lake Day is always fun and it’s a good opportunity to do something a little different with the bootcamp.  I said at the beginning that this workout is more fun than intense, and that was mostly true today (there were some complaints, though about the 20 burpees following the long wheelbarrow sequence).

Cyclops, Bonsai, and Fishsticks all showed some great form today with cannon balls, can openers, and a flying frog dive off of the dock – well done men!   Treading water is not really hard, but doing it for just 5 minutes can tire you out, and I think we were all feeling it after the 2nd go round.

It was another great day at Alcatraz and it’s always a  blast to be with my F3 buddies on Saturday mornings.    I attached the picture we took after the workout.  It took me a few tries to get the pic, and I was called out for my less than deft ability at using an Iphone camera.      I’ll have to work on that for next time.    Oh, and the title of the backblast is a Rush reference (huge fan here, RIP Neal Peart).

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Lucky 7 at the Ballroom

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Seven strong hit the Ballroom this morning for some mid-summer fun.  Here is what they did:

The Thang:

Warm-up with arm circles, stretches, knee to chest pulls, toy soldiers, lunge twists, and downward/upward dog.  Mosey to the patio for COP:

COP (all in cadence):

SSH x 20, windmill x 15, merkin x 10, IW x 15, Squat x 20, MC x 15, LBC x 15, wide arm merkin x 15, Burpees OYO x 3

Mosey to the adjacent grassy patch

Bear crawl 15 yds, 15 merkins, mosey back to start

Crabwalk 15 yds, 15 dips, mosey back to start

Lunge walk 15 yds, 15 squats, mosey back to start

Rinse and Repeat.

Jack Webb (traditional) 1 – 7

Mosey to the front parking lot.  Side shuffle along the parking ling, run-up to next line, side shuffle back, run to up next line ……  4-5 lines.  Rinse/repeat back to the start.

Circle up for Mary (all in cadence)

Flutter x 15, pretzel crunch x 15,superman x 3 (25 sec hold), hello dolly x 15.  Finish up with the Body Destroyer.

COT

I am slowly getting back to Qing workouts after a long absence.  This was my second Q since March.  I really enjoyed today’s Q and it was great to see my old F3 friends who I’ve missed a lot this past year.  Also good to see  Dojo and Naked/Afraid again.  The three of us were together at Footloose not long ago.

I really took to F3 when I started about 9 years ago.  I loved the workouts from the get-go, and know I’m a better man through the various 2nd and 3rd F  activities I’ve been a part of since 2012.  I consider myself lucky that I can still do this,  and I don’t take it for granted.  My guess is that the 6 guys who joined me this morning also feel the same way.   We are truly a blessed and lucky bunch.

Prayers and praises:  Residents of the Miami, FL condo collapse, ST’s friend with cancer, mother with dementia, mother in law with illness.

 

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Ballroom: Talking about Feeling and running 2mi ish

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11 PAX at The Ballroom for a mini cannoli run …… moderate means modify as needed.

  • Couple of warm up exercises
  • Mosey for .94mi to Pleasant Knoll Elementary entrance
  • Along way do some exercises
  • 3 rounds of repeats to 5 light polls
    • 10 Merkins
    • 20 Squats
    • 10 America Hammers
  • Mosey back to COT with exercises on the way
  1. The Barry – July 1 7pm
  2. Fastest 5 – July 31
  3. Prayers for Sen Tressel friend Joe
  4. Praises for Yoshi and time with Grandpa

We are all managers….not just in the workplace but in everything. The better word is steward. From the air we breath to time to finances to the very words that come out of our mouths, we need to manage them and ask ourselves are we using this to the best of our ability or wasting it?? Steward all of your resources well!!

Thanks Drop Thrill from the opportunity to Q

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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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