Thanksgiving Convergence 2021

68 PAX in attendance for a pre-thanksgiving beatdown and some fellowship on a brisk morning Thursday 11/25/2021.

 

With the anticipation of fried turkey, oreos and coffee brought by @Change Order, @Smuggler and @RubySlippers, mumble-chatter abounded,  until @Hardwood took the center and called attention at 0600 hours. Disclaimer was disclaimed and the call for new FNG’s was made, no new FNG’s was the lone blemish on the otherwise fantastic morning in my humble opinion.

Run options led by @Gekko and a Moderate group led by @TripleLindy set off as the rest of the PAX moseyed towards back of Springfield Elementary. First Destination was in parking lot way back by the Middle School.

Circled up and @Hardwood called out the following exercises:

SSH- 40

Windmills

Downward Dogs and Honeymooners

Low & Slow Squats

Cyclops: Stay in Squat Position and complete Moroccan Nightclubs

 

The Thing

Series of Webs

Starting with Merkins and Overhead Claps

1×4 for 10 rounds of excruciating shoulder pain, mumble-chatter becoming more focused on the task at hand

more SSH 🤮

Next we completed ANOTHER WEB, worse than the last,

Shoulder Taps and Moroccan Nightclubs

1×4 for 10 more rounds that was never ever going to end

Lots of requests for Burpees strangely or anything other then arm workouts!

 

YHC began the 2nd half of the workout with more SSH

Mosey around to front of Middle School with 3 stops for 5 Burpees OYO, at the request of the PAX

Line up at bottom of small hill in front of school and explain the workout, AMRAP LEG CIRCUIT

Teams of 4 ish men cycle through three exercises at bottom of hill individually:

2 Squats

2 Split Lunges

2 Bomb Jacks

Next Broad Jump up Hill to top and complete the following:

2 V-ups

Bear Crawl to bench

2 Step Ups

Run around and down to bottom of hill stopping at cones for 2 burpees (two stops per lap)

Meet back at bottom of hill and repeat, only this time DOUBLE ALL REPS TO 4X

Goal is to complete 5 rounds or AMRAP, almost completed but just short of time before we had to get back to COT

YHC shared a article on Gratitude, and then @Shady shared the heart of the Fort, the success of @Seamstress initiative with the help of the PAX, @Seamstress shared his excitement and appreciation for the success of the event! Great job by all T-claps!

Finally we had a shovel hand-off YHC taking the Ranch from a long line of great site Q’s which I hope to make proud.

Then we were finally able to enjoy the fried delicacies and coffee! Cheers!

 

 

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Colosseum Backblast

Warmup: Shady

QIC: Zima

25 Pax showed to see if the rumors were true. Or Shady has a degree in short-term hype trains. Maybe a little of both. Humbled to see y’all out there for an out of shape Q workout.

Shady did a 5 min warmup

Station 1: Burpee Suicides 5-10-15 reps (no foreplay @Jekyll)

Merkin Suicides 5-10-15 repsMosey to another Station at entrance to school

Station 2: Quadzilla for 4 minutes (run downhill and nur back uphill). #lovelanguageOG Quadzilla (thanks @Pusher). Same as above but with 10 squats at top and 10 jumping lunges at bottom.

Mosey to Elementary School Car Loop

Station 3: Run 5 laps doing 10 hand release merkins at starting line and 10 hand release merkins at half point (5 laps=100 hand release merkins)

I had 3.0+ miles by COT. It felt good to Q again and be in the gloom with y’all. I felt the love.

Announcements: Read the Newsletter

Prayers/Praises:
-Zima praise for Let Me Run Coaching
-Prayers for those suffering from depression (when in doubt, reach out)
-Prayers for Blount daughter who has cancer
-Prayers for Cyclops M whose uncle passed away

Apologies for any errors or omissions. Thanks for the opportunity. I need a nap.

Zima Out!

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Clydesdales: Training like a Boss!

24 PAX arrived for a pre Charlotte Marathon run.
The disclaimer was given but no FNGs this day

The route was simple but flexible so PAX could push as hard as desired

we crossed over to Kingsley and down to back traffic circle ⭕️

we did laps between the circles which have slight hills on both ends

some PAX took the full around the block of Kingsley as an option as well

Of 24 PAX 11 were respectable

was great mumble chatter and some encouragement by running in close proximity of each other

thanks Greenwave for the opportunity 👏🏻💥👍🏻

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Convergence – Shop Vac

65 PAX gathered to remember Shop Vac. Probably had closer to 70 at different points during the hour. Fishsticks took the Milkshakers

Lutefish warmup:
Sean Kelley, 56, Shop Vac

There are a couple of young men I was hoping would hear this this morning. While I’m talking to them, I’m also talking to myself and all of you.

We all know that or God, SkyQ, has written our books. He went before us, He knows us by name, and He alone knows when our earthly lives begin and end. God knew our brother Sean was to come home. And it doesn’t make sense to us.

But let me ask you this. What would it be like to know that when it is our time that we would also know that we accomplished the tasks that the Lord created us to do? God knows the great plans He has for each of you. You are here for a reason.

Wouldn’t it feel comforting to know that you full executed your purpose here on earth? Today we celebrate Sean, who I believe did just that. Sean loved his sons. It’s all he talked about when we worked out together. That, and his dream to have a home in Beaufort. He lived out and executed his purpose. We now have 2 of his sons as our brothers, and how great it is that the world is better because of him. Recover on your feet.

I read a quote recently:

“When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced; live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.”

Sean is rejoicing and would want us to do the same. And he would want us to do 56 side straddle hops in cadence.

Split out to:

  • Kettlebells
    • Uhaul
  • Bootcamp: split PAX into two groups for 20min sessions
    • Ruby Slippers
    • Band Camp

Uhaul’s KB workout:
56 Squats
56 Curls
56 Skull Crushers
56 Calf Raises
56 Uhauls
56 Flutters w/ press (4 count)
56 Dead lifts
56 Lawn Mower Pulls R
56 Lawn Mower Pulls L
56 American Hammers
56 LBCs (4 count)

Band Camp’s portion:
EMOM
minute 1 – 20 burpees
minute 2 – 30 jumping lunges
minute 3 – 40 Freddie Mercuries
minute 4 – 50 Carolina Dry Docks
minute 5 – 60 SSH

7s w/ Mike Tysons and Squats
Mode of transportation: bear crawl/crawl bear

Some in cadence jump squats, core work,

I found a backblast from Shop Vac…It reads with a lot more significance to me now. https://f3thefort.com/2021/04/14/403656/
I may have said something asinine while holding a squat and quoting his backblast.
Something like:
Have understanding when I say 5 more squat jumps
Show tolerance when I say 6 more squat jumps
Practice patience when I call 7 more squat jumps
Take direction as we’re now hitting 8 more squat jumps

Did a little sprinting as well with the second group. (Shop Vac would not have approved, and neither did most of the PAX)

NMM: Shop Vac’s love for and pride in his sons was palpable. He made me want to be a better dad. I’m glad to be around men that make me want to be better. Shop Vac was one of those dudes.

Ruby Slippers’s portion:
I had the pleasure of working out a lot with Shop Vac. His attitude, smile, and laughter infected you immediately every time you met him.

YHC remembers a time during COT after a workout where frustrations from my work life came bubbling to the surface. After I vented to the PAX about the situation ( usual selfish rant where everyone else has a problem but me ) and the Q finished prayer, Shop Vac pulled me to the side and gently explained that it was my attitude that needed to be adjusted, not everyone else’s. He did it in a manner where I gladly and thankfully accepted his advice.

The Thang:
At every Shop Vac Q you could count on stations, simple exercises and/or routines, and minimal running. The six was never left behind at a Shop Vac workout so we are using the buddy system to make sure that does not happen at this workout.

Set-up 4 stations in the shape of a square in the middle parking lot at The Armory. 4 stations represented each member of the Kelly family, there were 4 exercises at each station, partner work to complete a cumulative total of 56 reps of each exercise:

Sean’s station:
– Merkins, Diamond Merkins, Wide Arm Merkins, CDD’s
Stacey’s station:
– Crunches in cadence, Flutters in cadence, Big Boy Sit-ups, Straight Lower Leg Lifts
Jack’s station:
– Squats, Jump Squats, Lunges, Jumping Lunges
Brian’s station
– Side Straddle Hops in cadence, Seal Jacks in cadence, Mountain Climbers in cadence, Plank Jacks in cadence.

PAX partner up – complete all 4 exercises at a station and then mosey to the center. YHC stood in the center of the square to represent Francis, Shop Vac’s faithful four-legged companion, where PAX would come to complete 56 monkey humpers.

Continued around the stations until time was called.

Video Evidence: https://twitter.com/jisenhour/status/1456967297453727750

Welcome FNGs: Bow Wow Wow, Bam!, Triple H, Dictator, Wax Off, and Pool Boy

Prayers for Sean’s family.

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Two Minute Drill

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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Sweep the Leg 09.06.21

I arrived a bit early this morning to map out the route for the workout.  I noticed on Goggle maps a civil war cemetery marked at the corner of Gold Hill Road and Hubert Graham Parkway.  I have run by this location several times and never noticed it until now.  Once everyone arrived, we started our journey to the traffic circle at the start of Hubert Graham Parkway.

Outbound to Gold Hill Road – Stop at every light pole, merkins and squats, 10 of each. (Total 150 merkins, 150 squats)

Inbound from Gold Hill Road – Stop at every light pole, 5 burpees  (Total 35 burpees)

Bonus miles:  Run around Tega Cay Elementary School.

We all met back at the traffic for a short mosey back to COT.

Total miles = 4.08

Great job by everyone this morning.

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Roll The Dice

 

I had the opportunity to be joined by 13 other men this morning at Minnow Pond. It was hot and humid, but we covered 3 miles with dicey pain along the way. Here’s what we did:

Warm Up

  • 10 Ranger Merkins (IC)
  • 10 Plank Jacks (IC)
  • 10 Gorilla Humpers (IC)
  • 10 Burpees
  • 5 Y-Rises (IC) – an almost Overhead Clap

The Thang

The workout was pretty simple in concept, but not easy. Run to Fort Mill Animal Hospital, Town Hall, First Baptist, and the Improper Pig, roll the dice (color indicated exercise and number x10 represented count) and repeat. We used a 10-sided die (2 of each color on the die) and a standard 6-sided number die. There was one caveat, when it was your turn to roll, you had the option to take a chance or call 20 Burpees. The choice was up to the roller. There was a 17% chance we would do Burpees, but that could have been anywhere from 10-60 Burpees. So the chances were just as good that we would have done 10 Y-Rises as there was to do 60 Burpees. Two men chose the 20 Burpees, and to be honest, I would probably done the same. After all, better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. To my best recollection, we did:

  • 10 Ranger Merkins
  • 100ish Plank Jacks
  • 150ish Gorilla Humpers
  • 50 Burpees
  • 175ish Y-Rises

NMM

In life, sometimes you have to roll the dice. If you stay stagnant, you’ll never know what might have been. Rarely do opportunities fall in the lap of the sedentary person. You have to take the risk to find the rewards. You must be willing to try, fail, and learn. Today’s workout was designed to let each man take a chance and see what was in store for the PAX. Everyone got better today because they were willing to do something…anything. Take that lesson with you throughout the week. Take a chance and roll the dice.

Aye!

Italian Job

 

 

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Run, do this. Run, do this…

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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Building reliability at Bushwood

It’s Bushwood and L-Train says to bring a message. Honestly, I struggled with this one as I get caught in the misnomer of thinking I have to have it perfected or the idea that I can’t still be struggling with something if I’m going to talk about it with others. I recognize that’s not the case but nevertheless, it’s still an obstacle.

That said, the topic was essentially, building reliability. Throughout the workout, I would pose questions to the PAX that I personally have struggled to answer over the years. Questions like:

  • Can you be counted on in less than ideal conditions? What if it’s not 65 degrees and sunny; do you have what it takes to take charge? Will I be ready?
  • What if life doesn’t give me a 10ct; what then? You mean I don’t have time to catch my breath? How will I handle it?
  • What if I step out of my home office and the mess just hits the fan? What’s my response?
  • Do I have what it takes to shut my mouth and open my ears when listening is all that is desired?
  • You mean, I don’t have to be right?
  • Sometimes I just feel like licking my wounds and quitting? Can I be relied upon?

As for the physical part of the bootcamp, it went a little something like this:

SSH / Jump Squats / Tuck Jumps / Burpees
Run 1/2mi

Flutters / V-Ups / American Hammers / 10 Burpees
Run 1/2mi

Carolina Dry Docks / Mountain Climbers / Diamond Merkins / 10 Burpees
Run 3/4mi

Now for the crowd pleaser:
1 Burpee: 4 Tuck Jumps / 2 Burpees: 8 Tuck Jumps up to 5:20
Run 3/4mi

Quick discussion on life that sometimes all it takes, is all you got.
Sprint the final 1/2mi to COT

FUNHOUSE WAS KING on this one

Brothers, I appreciate you pushing yourself and pushing me as we covered right at 3mi this morning..

See you Friday.
Maximus

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Covering ground at the Pit

My apologies for breaking my own self-imposed 48hr Backblast rule but I appreciate the grace. It’s been a few weeks since my last time leading men from the Q spot so it was good to be back. What did we do? I’m so glad you asked:

Disclaimer and Polaroid took the BC’ers while the KB’ers stayed with me.
Your typical warm up exercises and some pretty good chatter if I remember correctly. If I don’t remember correctly, there’s a chance you don’t either.
Next, we did an atypical thing, we ran around the school…without the KBs. That was a 1mi warm up.
5 Man Makers with the KB
10 KB Swings / 20 lunges (10 ea leg) / 30 Curls (15 I/C)
Run down to the bottom of the hill. 5 Burpees. Run back up. 5 Burpees

10 KB Swings / 20 Leg Raises w/ KB at a 45 / 30 Flutters w/ a press
5 KB Man Makers / Run down to the bottom of the hill. 5 Burpees. Run back up. 5 Burpees

2min Plank
10 Very sloooooow squats I/C / 20 Thrusters / 30 Calf Raises

2min Plank / 5 KB Man Makers

Thanks for the invite.
Max

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