Bearded Wonder Takes On The Pond

NASA asked me to Q Minnow Pond about a month ago and I accepted forgetting that I had Lake Haigler 12 hour 2 days afterwards. The plan was to take the Minnows to the trails and get some miles there but that will have to wait for another time to do that. It had rained the night before and there were a lot of leaves on the trails. Didn’t want someone to do a Superman like Dark Helmet did last time I Q’d here.

Took the fellas to Harris Street Park and as Strava describes it Harris Street Hell Hills. It’s almost a mile to the park from Veterans Park so keep that in mind for future Q’s.

We did hill repeats each way with 10 hand release merkins at the middle, 10 monkey Humpers at top of one side Harris Street and 10 Sumo Squats at Harris/21 Hill. Most got close to 4 miles total.

Had a group of guys carrying around fancy book bags filled with styrofoam peanuts and a few had actual weights in them. Maximus,Rebound,Dark Helmet,Farmers Only,Spider-Man, Crystal Lake, Wooden Leg and Anchorman all rucked I’ll let you decide who had peanuts and who had weight.

,

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NaFo Nardo

Mosey run down to Elementary School; toy soldiers, high knees.
Circle up and do warm up exercises in cadence: SSH, Windmills, Imp Walkers, Moroccan N/C, Low slow squats, big arm circles, Peter Parkers, and plank stretches. Had pax recite the mission of F3.
Run uphill to pull up bars and did: Pullups, chin-ups, switch grips, knees to chest
Run to high school. Get on the wall: wall sits, and BTW.
Run to other side of high school/faculty parking lot: Bear crawl 100 ft, and crab walk 90 ft.
Had pax state the credo of F3.
Run to back side of school: cinder blocks: Curls, KB swings, OH presses, Kaiser grip standing rows, manmakers, arm extension hold.
Mosey to benches: step ups, dips, derkins, taint crushers (formerly known as butt touch squats), incline merkins, calf raises.
Run to shovel flag. Had pax state the five core principles of F3. Six count burpees (5x). Then Sally routine: leg raise on “bring Sally up”, six inches on “bring Sally down”.
Fini
COT
Goal of going through F3’s mission, credo, and core principles is to etch these talking points in our mind so we can better convey what F3 is all about to potential pax.

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Simple – Gear, Burpees and Sprints at the Armory

Typos quite possible…

Armory for the kickoff of the month of Gear/May:

PAX brought a few sand bags, a ruck, plate carrier and kettle bells ranging from 20lb-60lb. Tesh would’ve blushed.

Disclaimer but hey, push yourself.
Carry the coupons to the near end of the large parking lot.
Mosey lap around then circle up for some warm up things (garden variety).

10 Burpees and sprint to the other end of the lot
10 Burpees and sprint back, partnering up with a coupon of your choice (it pays to be fast)

25 Squat Thrusters
25 Curls
26 Merkins (1/2 & 1/2)

5 Burpees, run 1/2 way and run back (had to start watching the clock) to the coupon of your choosing…unless you had no other options.
25 Flutters
25 Freddy Mercury’s
25 X’s & O’s

5 Burpees, run 1/2 way and run back
25 LBC’s
25 American Hammers
26 Box Cutters

5 Burpees, run 1/2 way and run back
25 Bent Over Rows (slow cadence)
25 Overhead Press (slow cadence)
25 Chest Press (slow cadence)

10 Burpees, Run all the way down and run all the way back

Carry the coupons back for COT

Until next time.
Maximus

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12 Days of “Its Not April Yet”…

We left the parking lot and moseyed our way towards WEP with a quick stop along the way for some SSH (more than intended since Bobber had to run back and turn his lights off and we had to do them until he returned… ALA high school sports style punishment), Imperial Walkers, Hillbilly Walkers, Moroccan NightClubs, Windmills and also a quick set of Cherry Pickers at Bobbers request.

Once we arrived at WEP there happened to already be a board of pain there with the workout listed

1 x Kraken

2 x 10 Second All Gore

3 x Burpee

4 x Merkin (4 count)

5 x Calf Raise (4 count)

6 x Derkin (4 count)

7 x Moroccan NightClubs in Squat

8 x Monkey Humpers (4 count)

9 x Flutter (4 count)

10 x LBC

11 x Jump Squats

12 x Side Straddle Hops (4 count)

 

We then moseyed back to the start and closed in a COT

A great time was had by all

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Prison Yard Beatdown

10  Pax converged at the rock on a cool Saturday morning 0630 for a full body beatdown led by Sasquatch and YHC.

*pre-pull-ups were completed by Skipper, Maximus, Sasquatch and YHC. All of them.

Sasquatch kicked the sesh off with a brief disclaimer and  a unique and effective warm-up that included:

SSH

5+ minute plank with upward dog, downward dog (with multiple variations)

Peter Parker

Parker Peter

Plank jacks

Merkins

Wide-arm merkins

Now that the upper body and core were fired up we moseyed over to the playground where we completed:

3 sets of 5 pullups

5 toes to bar

10 partner clap pushups

wheelbarrow ~20 yards

2 sets of 5 curb merkins

5 curb burpees

5 curb sit-up-getups

1 set of 5 windmill merkins

YHC took over right at 0700 and brought the PAX back to the parking lot where we split into two groups, first group (A)  runs lap around park, stopping at all park benches to complete a number of exercises, return to parking lot and switch with group (B) who is completing exercises in cadence with good form (AMRAP):

1st lap, Group B- Deep squats (AMRAP), Group A – Runs with 10 dips each bench (20 total)

2nd Lap, Burpees (AMRAP) and Step-ups (20 total)

3rd lap, Monkey Humpers (AMRAP) and Derkins (total)

After much grumbling and some counting methods no better than our last few elections we switched it up and moved to front of parking lot for some more partner work.

First partner sprints to far end of parking lot, 2nd partner holds plank. We did 3 or 4 rounds

Finally we did some Mary for 3 minutes, flutter kicks in cadence and american hammers to get us to 0730 and COT.

Thanks for the opportunity Skipper!

 

 

 

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No Arrival

40-some pax posted to the region’s Ground Zero at WEP for a smorgasbord of pain, from 6@6 to Millkshake to a tried and true BC beatdown.  A very explicit and thorough Disclaimer was pronounced by Dark Helmet for the benefit of our FNG, and then the pax blasted off.

The Thang

The recitation of the 5 Core Principles quickly failed to meet DOAH’s standard, leading to some burpees.

Mosey around the parking lot with some toy soldiers and knee lifts mixed in, with the pax following onto the bandshell stage.

COP proceeded including more core principles along with some Merkins and DOAH’s proclamation that maybe the FNG’s fitness surpassed that of many of the pax present.  {Yes, he’s good at stirring the pot whether he’s poking at the Q or Qing himself.}

More mosey and more warm up exercises until the pax reach the far side of the WEP.

Enter stage left — the BAOPS boys via Clown Car — Trucker, Smuggler, Change Order & Longshanks, who just couldn’t stand the thought  of missing out on the best 1st, 2nd & 3rd F in The Fort on this given Saturday.  {Pro move by whoever made that call!}

Partner up for wheel barrow…to the playground…Yes…to the playground!…where the fun really starts.  {Fishsticks promptly cruised 85% of the way there to prove to his FNG that no matter what DOAH says, the FNG’s fitness had room for improvement.}

At the playground, each partner does 50 (yes, Five-O!) pull ups.  {Jiffy cranked out 30 in rapid fire.}

Some core work followed including LBCs and Rosalitas among others.

Handoff to Double D

Run to the bottom of the hill

Jacob’s Ladder with Donkey Kicks at the bottom and Sumo Squats at the top.  Traverse to the top via Bear Crawl and run to the bottom.

Mosey back to the parking lot with some Mary led by Jekyll

Climb the Stairway to Heaven via lunge walks, pausing for Carolina Dry Docks at each lamp post, starting with 5 reps and adding 5 more at each successive post.

Mosey down to the monuments with some Mary led by Longshanks

Circle up for an FNG introduction to Jack Webb by Change Order

Run home for final 2 mins of Mary by Longshanks

COT

NMM

A spirited pax at The Fort on this pleasant late winter morning!   Back to back weeks with a convergence at The Fort — thanks to the Alcatraz boys for adding their zeal to the day!

Maximus delivered the tailgate coffeeteria in the parking lot afterward and our FNG (EHed by Fishsticks) hung around long enough to learn the backstory of his name (Roy Kent) and to fill his rolodex with roofing customer prospects.

Welcome to Roy Kent!  Barry Manilow was quite vocal about the quality of the name and the importance of RK living up to it.  Well, if he doesn’t meet the mark, we can always default to what RK thought we named him — Rockette!

It was great to have Car Bomb among the pax today, fresh off his return trip from New Zealand, prior to his resettlement in another adventure.

The theme for the day was geared around the notion of life being an endless series of mountain climbs, peak after peak, with no arrival to the top in sight — ever.  Depressing, huh?  No, not for the HIMs of F3 and The Fort.  Give us the hard stuff.  We’re playing the long game and we know you can’t play it alone.  So keep posting, stay engaged with your brothers.  Together we’ll keep accelerating.

It was a treat to Q with DOAH for the first time.  We all look at him as just another member of The Fort, which of course he is.  At the same time, he also invests a huge amount of his life leading the 43 feet for the Nation.  Not only is it not easy being Frank {imagine how hard it must be for Traci his wife}, it’s also lonely at the top of any organization {how about leading one with 50,000 type A men?}, and it’s incredibly challenging to serve as the successor to any founder {would you want to try one Dredd’s shoes}.  Despite the small jabs, I say this with all seriousness — DOAH has taken on an extremely difficult challenge, one that he executes well with tremendous energy and virtue and that we all benefit from.  We’re fortunate that he calls The Fort “home” and that we get to take his crap on a regular cadence.  Thank you, DOAH!

Thanks to Grinder for the opportunity!  Always an honor to lead the men of this brotherhood!

SYITG

 

 

 

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Richard John Webb, Esq.

5 PAX

Disclaimer
YHC added, I’m not taking responsibility for you following my suggestions until 0600.

1 mile buy in. Spiderman pushed the pace to 7:30/mi

Bobber joined us. 6 PAX

Warm-up
Wall sit for 6
Tibialis Raise
SSH x40
IW x40
HW x40
Yoga
Monkey Humpers x10

Mosey
Leg Sequence
1 burpee
2 bomb jacks
3 jump squats
4 jumping lunges (2 each leg)
5 Bobby Hurley’s (also renamed to every Duke basketball player I could think of on the fly for Mainframe’s “benefit”)
6 split squats
7 Carolina Dry Docks (on of these things is not like the other ones)
8 lunges (4 each leg)
9 monkey humpers
10 squats

Mosey
Leg Sequence
Added Bulgarian Split Squats in cadence x11
Added 1 pistol squat

Mosey
Bear Crawl the car rider line at the elementary school
Leg Sequence

Mosey to playground
Dick Webbs (Richard John Webb, Esq.)
We made it to 7 rounds. That’s:
– 28 pull-ups
– 112 merkins
We did another leg sequence in there to mitigate the lactic acid in our arms
Getting to ten rounds of this (with legitimate form) seems difficult. Challenge Accepted

Mosey back towards COT
Stop for Bulgarian Split Squats on the way

Finished the 28 merkins at COT
Flutters in cadence
Pigeon Lunge to hit 0600

Great to be out at The Ranch. Solid mumble chatter and Tressel proved he can still respectfully hand us our rear ends. (I’m paraphrasing Mainframe’s spot on observation)

NMM:
Here’s an actual text thread of me texting stream of consciousness:

Poppins: So whatcha thinking for tomorrow? Wanna hype appropriately lol
Me: Angry college professor takes out aggression on non-syllabus reading students
Poppins: So same old?
Me: Pretty much

(Then I was struck by a little more and I’m getting the vision of an eventual video trailer promo here)

Man who loathes the phoniness of Disney World is forced to pre-book meals at places he cares very little about visiting much less eating. And his only solace is an ability to bear crawl and perform burpees in the school parking lot before the sun rises.

I’m thinking the trailer ends with a clip of the man saying,
If it were up to me, I’d drink a nice whiskey neat and stare into a fire. But it ain’t about me, so I’m trying to live third and watch my kids have a good time. What a great opportunity to work on not being a selfish a-hole

I think there’s something here…I’ll keep work shopping it a bit

Thanks Bobber for sharing the Gaffigan bit on Disney. It will seriously be a good opportunity for me to work on not being selfish. If I’m gonna spend the cash on Disney, I might as well not ruin it with my attitude, right? https://youtu.be/eYacdfsORec

Prayers for wisdom when dealing with teenagers
Praise for my M being named Teacher of the Year at GHMS

Thanks Poppins for the opportunity to lead:


Band Camp dismissed

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Fort Mill Tour – No Charge

We had 20 men show up this morning at Block Party.  Alot more than I anticipated, but it’s good to have a big crowd.  After a quick disclaimer, we did the typical warm-up exercises (SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Windmills).

I explained to the Pax, we would be on the move this morning, touring Fort Mill.  Our first stop was the Hardee’s parking lot.  Once everyone arrived, we did the following exercises:

20 Squats

15 Merkins

10 LBCs

5 Burpees

Next stop was Unity Church on Tom Hall, instead of taking the shortest route, we ran down Spring Street to Leroy and met at the front of the church.  The same exercises were done by the Pax.  We continue our tour around town to the Church of God parking lot on Academy Street.   Once exercises were complete, we moved to the next stop, the parking lot across from the gas station on Spratt Street.

Our fifth stop was the Fort Mill Church of Nazarene on Harris Street.  We took the longer route up hilly Massey Street to Harris Street.  Again, another round of exercises.  Our last stop was Walter Elisha Park.

We then made our way back to COT for one last round of exercises. Total distance was a little over 3 miles. The continued theme from Monday’s Q, “No Shortcuts”.  We took the longer route to each location.  The routes were hilly and more difficult, but we are better than when we started this morning.  Keep getting after it.

Great job everyone!

 

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FORE!

Balmy 32 degrees, clear skies.

Great to start the year off with a proper #runningwithpushups beatdown.  Was a little nervous on the who would show as the emoji bucket for my preblast was near empty.  I need my dopamine hit of likes, hearts, and high fives.  14 (corrected to 13 via video) posted for a jaunt to Fort Mill Golf Club.

5:13: “one minute to pledge” and also “hurry up birdcage, lets go”

5:14: Pledge of Allegiance.  There was no Bandcamp to throw me off my 40  year vocal cadence.  We are all #proudtobeanamerican

5:15: concise layout of the plan and  half assed disclaimer.

The Thang:

AYG to parking lot of Fort Mill Golf Club,(1 mile) plank wait for #six and confirm plan.  Run Front 9 cart path.  At every Tee and every Green: 5 Merkins and 5 squats. Head back to COT 0550. Fishsticks and Badlands were super strong this morning, lead the way and got all 9 in.  Middle and back groups got 7-8 holes.  Full round gets 4 miles and 90 each of the #painmakers.

Naked Man Moleskin

Maximus and Shady tried to talk to me while I was running.  Hope they could hear my muttering over my heavy breathing.  Not sure what was going on in the other running packs but if anybody ran with Pusher- can you let me know what questions he asked today?   Always great to see men push themselves at this workout.

Want to give a praise to Olaf for including me a bible plan this week.  Havent done one of those in a while and realized how impactful they are to setting up my day and my heart for the day.  My challenge to you- If you are a “habitual first thing I do when I wake up is grab my phone and scroll Instagram, twitter, slack, Linked In, News Feed, texts, emails” guy- take a break from that for a day, 3 days, 5 days.  Grab your coffee or water and for 5 minutes: sit “in it”.  Silence.  be still.  Meditate, bible verse, Q source, thought for the day, reflection, journal.  Start the day without the noise that leads to anxiety, worry, comparison.  Would love for you to find me next week, let me know how it went.

Aye!

Jekyll

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Run, exercise, rinse, repeat

Simple but effective is the kick I’m on right now. I’m notorious for overcomplicating things so I want to avoid that in the gloom. Fortunately, 13 men joined me at Sweep The Leg and we were going to keep it simple with a count of 10 for each of 4 exercises, with an estimated .5mi run between each set.

I stared with the disclaimer and began to give the overview of exercise and the course but I was losing attention spans.
Our exercises were:
10 Grave Diggers on the right side
10 Wide-Arm Merkins
10 Grave Diggers on the left side
10 Dips

Here’s the course:
Around the back of Earth Fare then L/T down the side access road and L/T onto Dave Gibson to Patricia Ln.
Do the exercises

Run to GHMS, around the drop-off lane and to the front door
Do the exercises

Run out and back up to Ben Casey Drive
Do the exercises

Run across 160 and onto Emory and wrap around to the intersection with Brayden Pkwy
Do the exercises

Take a L/T onto Brayden then L/T onto Afton and take that all the way back to the left bend in the road
Do the exercises

Continue running on Afton around the loop then R/T and run out to Galbreath.
Do the exercises

Run back to COT
Do the exercises

Add on as necessary.

A learning for next time would be to ensure all crossing of 160 is done at the stop light. No need to add risk in the gloom. It was my pleasure.

SYITG
Maximus

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