Tag: Vuvuzela

Rally-X

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Five men showed up for the workout this morning.  Jester crossed the river to join us in some morning fun.  Before we started, I mentioned to the Pax that I enjoyed playing video games as a kid.  The phrase “Is that a roll of quarters or are you happy to see me?” was a common jab at the arcade.  One of my favorite games was Rally-X.  The goal of the game was to collect flags by driving your car around a maze while being chased by other cars.  The car was equipped with a smoke screen so you could crop dust the chasing cars.  I had planned the workout to be similar to this video game..less the crop dusting.

The morning route was mostly around the school, each stop we did the same exercises (5 burpees, 10 merkins, and 15 squats).  The stops were as follows:

  1.  Middle school faculty parking lot
  2. Football field parking lot
  3. Last light post at back entrance
  4. Basketball courts
  5. Elementary school faculty parking lot
  6. South State Bank
  7. First Watch (lap around parking lot)
  8. First Watch

We covered around 4.3 miles this morning, 40 burpees, 80 merkins, 120 squats, and alot of great mumble chatter.

 

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Just. Keep. Posting.

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On a crisp 48 degree morning, a similar # of pax posted for a convergence at The Fort/Milkshake to commemorate 8 yrs of pain and impact in the Gloom of Fort Mill, SC and elsewhere in York County.   The occasion drew pax from Rock Hill, Metro and Raleigh.

The Thang

Double D led a warm up with yog to the Church of God parking lot plus some Carioca

COP — Mtn Climbers, Peter Parker, Parker Peter, Monkey Humpers, SSH, Seal Jacks, Merkins

Hand off to Jekyll

Yog up the hill to the rug factory lot and a re-introduction to, yes, you guessed it  — The Board Pain!!!

See photo for the Weinke from here….or check your soreness today (Sunday) for those who were present.  A Jekyll Classic!  Heard at F3 from Redwood @Santini “I’ve been avoiding this Board for years…100 Burpees!!”

Yog back home

COT

Naked Man Moleskin

8 years…Is that a long time?  Well, the average time of degree completion for US college students is 6 years.  Only 50% of startups make it to the 5th year mark.  So, I suppose 8 years qualifies as something of a landmark.  At the same time, I don’t personally remember much about being 8 years old.  What about the 8 years from 2-10 years old?  Or maybe 10-18 years old?  Yes, I remember more…and if I had my way I’d like to forget some of those moments!

Well, I can remember quite a bit of the past 8 years.  I quite clearly remember 9.29.12…a date etched in my memory like my wedding day, my daughters’ birth dates and my birthday.

As I reflect back on 8 years of #Impact delivered by the men of F3TheFort, what really matters is 10.06.12 and 10.13.12.  You see, those were the Saturdays when pax returned to WEP for week 2 and week 3.  And FNGs posted for their own personal version of #TheLaunch.  And then Saturdays became Tuesdays, too.  And then a short time later they also became Thursdays.   In the end, what matters the most is not what happened in the past, but what happens today.  Or what will happen tomorrow when pax post to one of 30+ workouts across Fort Mill/Tega Cay or 70+ workouts across York County.

Just. Keep. Posting.  The one true constant across life is #Change.  Since 2012, I’ve moved to a different house,  nurtured two chicks out of the nest, collected a paycheck from two additional employers and traversed through a lot of ups and downs.  One of my rocks during this period has been the community of #HIMs known as F3TheFort.  You’ve been steady in your acceptance of me each time I post.  And along the way, you’ve revealed to me more and more parts of myself as you’ve revealed parts of yourself.  I know I’m all the better for it, and so is my family.  I’m pretty certain you’re better too.  And in the process our town, county and country are also better.

So, yes, we should take heart in what’s transpired over the past 8 years.  It is remarkable.  It is a blessing.  Some might call it a miracle….or miracles.  And the only way to honor this fruit and express our gratitude to God and the men who’ve contributed (past and present) is to Just. Keep. Posting.  Because if a day ever comes when no one posts…well…let’s Just. Keep. Posting.

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50th Birthday Beatdown

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Today YHC celebrated 50 years on this planet with 11 great men of this nation. The weather was rainy and I think that might have kept some away but the beatdown commenced.

We moseyed to the front of Springfield Middle School and warmed up with : Windmills, Morrocan Nightclubs, Imperial Walkers and Hillbilly Walkers.

The Beatdown consisted of …….you guessed it 50 reps of each exercise. We split into 3 groups of four and each group took a color.

GROUP 1 RED: 50 MERKINS, BIG BOYS, PLANK JACKS, AMERICAN HAMMERS AND BOMB JACKS

GROUP 2 BLUE: 50 SQUATS, MT CLIMBERS, LUNGES, FLUTTERS AND SSH

GROUP 3 GREEN: 50 DIPS, SHOULDER TAPS, LBC’S, DONKEY KICKS AND DERKINS.

Each group completed one set of each and then it was dealers choice. The remaining time was spent picking random exercises from the board or some even decided running was the better choice….not me but nured a lap.

We ended with some Mary and COT…. Polaroid brought donuts and Harry Carey and family made cookies in the shape of shields.

Thank you all for making my 50th birthday special.

 

 

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Take no fish/prisoner

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22 showed up to get better….22 left better (more tired like YHC, but they took the red pill today).  Pledge of allegiance was properly performed, very short disclaimer (I think) but 5 core principles were done for the FNG…YHC tried to wait for what he was told about 2 PAX coming in HOT only to realized they were already there.  Upon that notification, we were off at a 7 min pace.

We ran down Academy street to the open parking lot by the top of the hill before we got to all the churches…did some planking while we waited for the 6…counted off to make sure we started and left with the same number.  At this point, YHC explained the drill and early route.

  • 10 – hand release merkins
  • 20 – squats
  • 30 – American (no, not russian twists) hammers

We did these in the parking lot, ran down the hill, were greeted from the Footloose PAX (welcome FNG) with some proper form (I guess) monkey humpers.  Very nice call Trucker – brownie points…  We ran to the corner of Tom Hall where we did our 10, 20, 30 – then ran to Hardees for another 10, 20, 30.  Waiting for the 6 we planked…as we should.  Once all PAX were in attendence, YHC instructed the PAX to run up Spring St and cross over to Unity where we would do 10, 20, 30.  At each “up and over” (basically creating an L), we would perform the exercises at either Unity or Spring depending on the up and over…always doing the exercise at the “over” cross street.  Once we reached Summersby (all the way in the back of the neighborhood), we ran back to Hardees.  Due to bad time management by YHC, this caused everyone to run all the way back to COT so you’re welcome for the non-rest.  Sorry, not sorry.

At COT, we named our FNG – Trickle (welcome!!).  D2D race for announcements which sold out in about 5 hours to the surprise of everyone.  Prayers and praises – we had a little of both.  Overall, just the right amount of suck but we got better and that’s the goal.

Shady out (thanks Shanks for the gap in schedule!)

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HIIT or Treat

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Six pax came out to observe Harry Carry’s 46th birthday and get a good beating via HIIT.

Warmup
Mosey run (with butt kickers, high knees, toy soldiers)
SSH (10x I/C)
Windmills (10x I/C)
Imperial Walkers (12x I/C)
Morrocan N/C (10x I/C)
Low Slow Squats (10x I/C)
Arm Circles (12x I/C)
Peter Parkers (10x I/C)
Plank Stretches (Downward dog/honeymooner)

Thang 1
At Pull up bars: interval routine, 20 seconds on exercise followed by 20 seconds rest. Exercises are below:
Pull-ups
Big Boy Situps
Chin-ups
Merkins
Squats (with cinder block)
Repeat for a total of three sets.

Run to school entrance

Thang 2
At the benches: interval routine, 35 seconds on exercise followed by 15 seconds rest. Exercises are below:
Dips
Imperial Walkers
Step ups
Incline merkins
Calf raises
Repeat for a total of three sets.

Run to COT area

Mary: Freddies, leg raises, box cutters, LBC, gas pumpers, cross-over toe touches,

Fini, COT

Prayers/Praises: Cash and his family; teachers and all school personnel with the upcoming school year.

NMM: HIIT keeps it simple but tough, and the time flies by as mentioned by more than one pax.  the tunes help too.

Water and cookies distributed after COT…I’m sure there will be some happy kids this morning.

Playlist:
The man, Killers
Got Nuffin, Spoon
Weapon of choice, fat boy slim
mountain song, Jane’s addiction
Date w/ the night, Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Seether, veruca salt
Give it away, RHCP
Every 1’s a winner, Hot Chocolate
Royals, Lorde
Every day is Halloween, ministry

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RPG-Varsity July Combo

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Twenty three PAX converged at NaFo for the RPG-Varsity Combo (July 2020 edition).  Meteorological note: there was actually an occasional breeze blowing!

Started promptly at 0515 with Sasquatch leading the Broga portion.

Sasquatch leading us in some Broga

The peaceful warrior  pose was shattered by the breaking of wind by some Pax.

Next, the pax had their choice of what to do from 0530 to COT/0600:

Boot camp: Kaiser on Q

Pax did:  Stage 1 = bench workouts including derkins, dips, incline merkins.
Stage 2 = bear crawl around circle.
Stage 3 = broad jumps across parking lot mixed in with burpees.
Stage 4 = cinderblock curls and step ups on bench
Stage 5 = flutters/ab workout to wait for the six
Stage 6 = 10 pull ups 10 chin ups 10 reverse grip pull ups 3 burpees pull ups with wall sit between intervals
Stage 7 = short Mary with Freddie mercuries and hello dolly.

Run: Harry Carry on Q
Four pax ran a 3 mile loop at about a 8:10 pace.

run route

Ruck: Cake Boss on Q
Seven pax for the ruck, covering about 1.5 miles.  Topic: Matthew chapter 24 “Be ready”.

Fini, COT

Kaiser noted James 1:19; “…be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”   It can be a struggle to those in the right order.

Prayers for Cash.

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Hill Suicides at STL

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Late night, 1-3 AM 2.0 cuddles. Lack of sleep. Sure to be a strong showing at STL. Roll up to find Gears with that smile he always has on when he knows he is about to put in work. Solid crew to start, into 0514 the cars keep appearing.

 

YHC tried to explain the warm up lap, but it just didn’t make sense verbally (see below). Only way to ensure we followed the right path was to lead the way.

Warm Up Lap – 1 Mile

Start in Parking Lot

End at bottom of Brayden Pkwy Hill

Arrived in the 6:45 pace range… plank it up for the six to explain the meat and potatoes. Right arm high, left arm high, six inches. And we’re ready.

Weinke – Hill Suicides – 1 Mile Each

From bottom of Brayden Hill there are three breaks in the median. First break, 10 reps, back down the hill. Second break, 20 reps, back down the hill. Third break (top of hill), 30 reps, back down the hill. One full suicide was 1.08 miles.

Round 1 – Merkins/LBC’s

Round 2 – Curb Dips/Flutters

Round 3 – CDD’s/Hello Dollies

Round 4 (few made it into this round) – Squats/Rosalitas

After Bones and Vuvuzela decided to kick this weinke in the teeth, we made a break for COT with 5 minutes left.

Get to COT with time for Mary. 15 Reps WWI sit ups, plus a few Fifer Scissors before the clock struck 0600. Elevation gain was 364 ft.

Bones, B.O.B, and Vuvuzela were top three.

 

COT

Announcements

Sweati 8/15

Blood Drive Tomorrow

Read your newsletter!

 

Prayers/Praises

MOAB’s father rung the bell for Chemo and is prepared to take the next step

Cake Boss’ 2.0 (Owen) had and MRI for his knee. Prayers for a good report and that his degenerative tissue be healed. 

Band Camp’s friends going through a divorce – prayers for their reconciliation. We are only a few poor decisions away from that same situation. Be vigilant.

Pray for families and the leadership of fathers – without strong leadership for our families, everybody is bound to fail.

 

Gears, that was fun. Please put YHC on the Q list again soon.

 

Punch List out. 

 

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Snowman suicide at Sweep The Leg

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YHC was late to the party placing cones for the beatdown so my man Gears lead the charge from StartEx. YHC was rolling up as the PAX were rolling out so I quickly parked and jail broke it towards the elementary school parking lot untied shoes and all.

Disclaimer was quickly disclaimed, thank you Maximus for providing cues as YHC struggled to be able to talk and tie shoes at the same time.
The Snowman Suicide was on tap for the unsuspecting PAX and boy was it going to be a doozy.

During this trying time, everyone is dealing with something and I wanted to remind everyone that Life is a team sport. And developed a beatdown that allows every single guy an opportunity to jockey for the top spot. This allows for the man out front to be continually pushed so that no one gets to take a break, no matter their individual fitness level.

Just as with anything in life, we are going to have setbacks, and we must remember that during these setbacks we must focus on the path forward and learn from the experience. It is also during these times that we must share that experience with our fellow PAX and those close to us; To allow them to learn without having to make the same mistakes for themselves.
“CLEAR THE PATH”
“LIGHT THE WAY”
The details:
Ten cones are placed along the route from the Elementary school teacher parking lot through the carpool dropoff lane over to the bus lot all the way around to Dam road.
Each cone has an exercise written on it. Every exercise will be performed 10 times.
This is a suicide workout but not just any suicide. It’s a slinky suicide of life so you go up 3 cones then back 2. Meaning that everyone will start by performing the exercise listed at cone#1 then the PAX will sprint past three cones to cone#4 to perform the exercise before coming back two cones to cone#2 to complete the exercise.
Then run to cone#5 to do the exercise, then back to perform the exercise listed on cone#3 and so on and so forth all the way up to cone#10.
So each time the guy in the lead is making progress by one cone but it’s taking him a lot of effort and having to backtrack a ton.

Here comes the kicker:
The kicker is that when the man in first-place finishes the exercise after coming back to cone #2 he then yells “Charge or Onward” and starts to run towards cone#5. Every person that he passes that are still on their way back to cone#2 skips the exercise at cone#2 and joins the leaders heading to cone#5. The leader has already cleared the path and is now lighting the way towards the next cone/challenge of life. Everyone can learn from the leaders experience and head towards the next challenge together. COVID SIDE NOTE: When I say together let me clarify that the distance between cones was large enough that social distancing was easy to maintain along the route (a full-sized road with no traffic) and ample hills to naturally separate the PAX. It is an extremely difficult process that allows every PAX to pick each other up and challenge themself to get better.

Here is the list of exercises
#1: Mack Tar Jighs
#2: Suicide Squats
#3: SSH
#4: Bomb Jacks
#5: ChaCha Merkins
#6: Bobby Hurleys
#7: Hand Release Merkins
#8: Jump Squats
#9: CDD
#10: Burpees

I try to hit all of the 3S2T in all of my Q’s and I feel this one delivered. The speed, strength, and stamina were definitely worked on and the constant switchbacks and hills really focused on the mental and physical toughness aspects. The look on guy’s faces during the beatdown showed the struggle but the encouragement was strong.

I think we made it through the burpees then back down to the Cone # 4 before having to jail brake all the way back to COT.
Great work was put in by all and I think the leaders got in over 4.6 miles and who knows how many exercises.
Count-A-Rama, Name-A-Rama, Announcements and Prayers and Praises before a circle of man.

It was a pleasure to witness the longest shooting star I have ever seen with you gents.

Thank you to Gears for the opportunity to lead these great HIM.
Stay Frosty My Friends!
Olaf

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Quality Questions

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12 PAX gathered, brief disclaimer and we’re off at what was collectively determined as “not mosey” pace.

Each stop:
5 burpees
10 Carolina Dry Docks
15 Jump Squats
20 Hello Dollys (some in cadence, some not)

At the Harris Street Park basketball court, we bear crawled cupcakes (line touches). FYI, baseline to baseline is a long way.

6 stops total.

Visited the monument to state sovereignty and the “faithful” slave. Talked about the kinds of questions we ask. YHC grew up in this town and never thought to ask why these monuments were here. Minnow Pond meets at “Veteran’s Park,” but “Confederate Park” is just up the hill… a monument to separatists that fought against the armed services honored at Veteran’s Park. Longshanks typically leads the pledge of allegiance before a workout, yet there are monuments to those who flew a different flag designed to replace the “stars and stripes” just across the railroad tracks. Interesting…

YHC is reading, because that is how academics solve problems. Recommended for non-academics as well. #accelerate

Ta-Nehisi Coates:
“None of us were promised to end the fight on our feet, fists raised to the sky. We could not control our enemies’ number, strength, nor weaponry. Sometimes you just caught a bad one. But whether you fought or ran, you did it together, because that is the part that was in our control.”

How are the questions we ask reinforcing togetherness or keeping us divided? Can we ask better questions?

Welcome FNG from West Charlotte: “Chimay”
May have broken his back, good thing I was also the one who EHed him.

—
Band Camp dismissed

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The Herd at Sweep The Leg

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Week 3 of Sweep The Leg was not about to be a letdown. Apparently, 24 other PAX posted to hold me accountable in ensuring they got the return on their investment, too. Gears started this AO a few weeks ago to present the PAX with an opportunity to push themselves harder and faster than currently offered at another AO, at least on a Monday. It is so easy to come out of the gates hot but the hard work is in consistency. Hard work was what we did for 40 of the 45mins this morning which concluded with some up hills and a jail break to ensure we finished as strong as we started.

Lots and lots of headlights kept rolling into the lot and as we were about to start the disclaimer, 4 more cars rolled in. So…
Sweeper identified…check (Thank you Cake Boss)
Overview  of Sweep The Leg for the rookies…check
Count off…25, are you serious?
Disclaimer…check

Warm up mosey out of the lot, L/T Len Patterson, L/T 160, L/T Dave Gibson Blvd and circle up at intersection with Ben Casey Dr.

Warm Up
Wind Mills
Imperial Walkers
Moroccan Night Clubs
5 Burpees

Overview of the pace. When I say “Get It”, it’s your fast pace or All You Got to get to the next stop. If you’re in the first wave of runners to get to the destination, we’ll be starting the exercises and doing them until the 6 got in.

Get It: To parking lot in front of GHES
Box Cutters
Dying Cockroaches
10 Burpees

Get It: End of straight way in front of the schools to the lot for Colosseum
5 Merkins

Get it: Run the GHMS drop-off loop then 1/2 the GHES loop taking us to the benches near the basketball hoops
20 Derkins
20 Dips
10 Carolina Dry Docks

Get it: Run to the end of the bus parking lot, run back, run to the end of the lot again and stop

Get it: Run up the long, never-ending bus entrance hill to just before Dam Rd and back to the start.
Mountain Climbers (keep the merlot down)
Peter Parker
Parker Peter

Get it: Run the remaining loop in front of GHES to the bottom of the hill on Dave Gibson Blvd.
5 Burpees

Get it: Run to 160, back to Patricia Ln (almost all the way back to the bottom of the hill), then back up to Ben Casey and thanks to Vuvuzela, circle up in the bank parking lot.
Merkins
Diamonds
Wide-Arm
American Hammer

Now really get it: Run down the straightaway back to COT.

Gears, I appreciate what you’re doing here. Thank You.
If anyone is still reading this, please wear black on Wednesday but something reflective if you’re running.

SYITG,
Maximus

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