2017 Clave Boss 5k/10k & Christmas Convergence

Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more——Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas!!

The largest turn out by far for the Clave Boss 5k/10k was a success. We started on time and as far as I know nobody died. Thank you to all the PAX that ran and had a fun time and fellowship.

For the 5k, here were are winners of Bundt Cakes

  1. MacGyver
  2. Harry Carry

For the 10k, here were are winners of Bundt Cakes

  1. Sir Topham Hat
  2. mix of PAX coming from all directions—no idea

For the Ruck, here were are winners of Bundt Cakes

  1. Dark Helmet for 11min pace 5k ruck…..nice work!

Honorable Mention for Anchorman completing the 5k and Barry Manilow being his wingman!

The Convergence kicked off on time and we had Gecko open us up in prayer. We split the groups up and away we went with COT at 0750. Click on links to see the pain that was delivered…..Merry Christmas!

Black Diamond – Longshanks Q – https://t.co/odVJHWCBPS

Bootcamp – Cha Ching Q – https://f3thefort.com/2017/12/23/christmas-convergence-boot-camp-mixed-w-some-bd/

Noderate – Barry Manilow Q – https://f3thefort.com/2017/12/23/your-moderate-option-at-the-convergence/

COT came together and we had 83 men attend this year.

Welcome FNG – Lake Effect, who is 41 not the 50 that he just shouted out. Classic!

Many announcements:

  • Thank you Site Qs for all your work, dedication and leadership!
  • Serve Saturdays ….reach out to Deacon, Bolt, NASA for info…..HIMs!!
  • Joe Davis Run Jan 6
  • Friday Convergence with 3rdF post beat down Jan 12
  • Rooster CSAUP Jan 20
  • Yeti – February
  • P200 – March

More than a workout!!

Prayers/Praises

  • Dark Helmet shared his sister is in need of prayer. Please remember DH and his family each day in prayer
  • Family visiting is fun and sometimes no so fun. BE HIMs!!
  • Prayers for all the PAX traveling and for peace this week!

Challenge:

I spoke to the PAX about how 2000 years ago Sky Q sent his son into the world in the form of a baby. When looking for a place to come in from the cold there WAS NO ROOM AT THE INN. I believe we all fall into this trap and put so much busy into our lives that we don’t have ROOM AT THE INN for Sky Q in our lives. We fill our hearts and minds with so much and when it come to his word and being in relationship, we DON”T HAVE ROOM AT THE INN (in our hearts).

I challenge myself and the PAX to make room for SKY Q and see how it changes your life in 2018 and beyond.

Honored to lead this PAX. I am blessed and grateful for each of you!

Cake Boss

 

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Alcatraz: Special Thx Uncle Sam VQ and Boss of Cake

I can’t even tell you really how many PAX came to Alcatraz for their DRP, because I thought I was a greeter at Walmart with all the men coming and then leaving it was a constant revolving door. Regardless, a majority of men got after it and with Uncle Sam making his VQ, we were all in for a treat. So after an attempt at introductions, disclaimers and usual office work, YHC handed it off to Uncle Sam.

The Thang:

 

  • Uncle Sam on Q:
We started off jogging to circle up on center field and warmed up the hipsters by shaking some Finkle Swings (5 reps/leg). 14 Moroccan Night Clubs followed up in a weird sequence since the VQ was stumbling into the rhythm.  The 18 Side Straddle Hops helped the inmates @ Alcatraz get the sensation that it was going to be easy but then they had to scrub the floors with some Annies (10 per arm).  24 Imperial Walkers and 24 Hillbillies thrusted them into Q’s arms.
  • Cake Boss on Q:
5 Burpees OYO
Mosey to the Playground for Mini Murph
Each PAX…no partner
1Lap around Park
50 Pullups
100 Merkins
150 Squats
1Lap around Park
Mosey to the Bball Courts count off 1’s and 2’s
1’s suicides
2’s Freddy Murcurys
flap jack
1’s suicides
2’s flutters
flap jack
Mosey to Hill behind Baseball field
Roll the dice of Pain, do the exercise, run the hill
10 Burpees, 10 Lunges, 10 LBCs, 10 Mountain Climbers
Hand off to Uncle Sam 
  • Uncle Sam on Q:
20 Groiners inspired a lot of grumbling  and some started crying “Parking lot!”, but we still had to do 24 LBCs and 8 Starfish Crunches to get our backs wet with the morning dew.  Partnered up we sprinted from base to base in the Baseball field as if we had hit a home run but stopped;ing for some Mountain Climbers at each base.  Inning was over and prisoners got to go back to their POD cell for some announcements, a lot of Turkey talk and a sweaty thanksgiving for all things good that come from SkyQ.
  • YHC spoke to the men about the “Real” things we are thankful about. Yes we all can be thankful for the obvious, but what are the things that when you realize how grateful you are you get emotional and it makes you want to be a better man. We need to focus on those things when life gets tough. When things and expectations are not going our way….and realize….that thing that makes us realize Sky Q loves me and my brothers are standing with me and everything will be fine!
  • Thanksgiving convergence
  • Christmas Party
  • Joe Davis Run
  • The Rooster CSAUP in Rock Hill

 

Thank you Senator for the opportunity!

Cake Boss & Uncle Sam

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Smithers VQ at Footloose – Stairway to Heaven

Smithers VQ

The weather was wonderful this fine fall October Morning…it felt just about as thick as ever and I was sweating even before I got out of bed!  Perfect day for my VQ!

As we were standing around talking before everything got kicked off I was amazed by the show of support of all the PAX rolling in one after another, 29 in all.  If only they had known what was coming ;-).

Started off with my first ever disclaimer…then a mosey to the back parking lot at First Baptist for the warmup:

  • Side Straddle Hops
  • Low Slow Squats
  • Windmills
  • Walking Calf Raises (aka how Cakeboss walked to school) to the wall
  • Wall sits for each PAX 10 count

Mosey across the street, down the steps, and across the next street to the parking lot next to Fort Mill Church of God…and wait, what was that in the humid glow of the streetlight?  Was that a board of pain?  Oh yes…

The Thang:

Partner up.  One partner starts the exercise while the other runs across the street and runs the snake on the set of steps…then back to take over the exercises for the partner.

  • 50 Bombjacks
  • 150 LBC’s
  • 200 Monkey Humpers
  • 150 Squats
  • 50 Merkins
  • 200 Calf Raises
  • 200 Side Straddle Hops

CONTROL is the word of the month.  We are all men….it’s in our DNA to want to be in control.  What do we need to find control?  In a car you need good tires…in a house you need a solid foundation.  You need a STRONG BASE…so…we worked on ours today.  Our legs (and a little bit of our core) were the focus…to give us a strong base to improve our control!

That said, we have all experienced things that didn’t go according to plan, and in many cases you could not regain that control no matter how hard you tried.  It is not easy to let go…it is not easy to adapt quickly…at least not all the time.  So, even when we ARE feeling in control we know that it is the Sky Q who has allowed that and trusted our leadership, Aye!  You see, the Sky Q uses us daily…sometimes to help others who are down, and pick them up…sometimes we are there to help those looking to help a brother up and we are the ones who are down.  Then there are the days where things just move right along without much resistance.  Those are the days where we should be letting the Sky Q know how much we appreciate His trust in us, and asking for continued strength to make Him proud!

Mosey back to COT for a quick round of Mary (just one set of flutter kicks) to close out our time.

My biggest fear was getting done WAY too early or not coming anywhere CLOSE to finishing the workout.  Sky Q steered me right in all the decisions, and I think for my first Q to finish with less than 2 minutes to spare…well, I’ll take that any day!

So, in closing…

My legs hurt, how about yours?

Smithers Out

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Webb-o-Rama and Snake Hops

The Golden Corral hosted 27 pax total (about a dozen ruckers, a dozen boot campers, and the rest runners) for fun and pain.  YHC can’t speak for the ruckers or runners, but here’s an account for the boot campers.

Mosey around the north side of HT and circle up in the back parking lot for COP Warm-up:

  • SSH x25
  • Mountain Climbers x20
  • IW x20
  • Windmills x10
  • Low Slow Squats x10
  • Run Stance Switch x10

Mosey between the buildings and circle around to the south side of HT to find a cone.  Partner up:

WEBB-O-RAMA
At each cone pax are to do (in cadence) 2 exercises in the spirit of Jack Webbs (1:4 ratio)

  • Cone 1
    • 1 burpee to 4 run-stance switch
      • Repeat with 2 burpees, then 3 burpees
      • >> Bear crawl to 2nd cone about 20 yards away
  • Cone 2
    • 1 big boy sit up to 4 american hammers
      • Repeat with 2, then 3 big boy sit-ups
      • partner wheelbarrow to third position
  • Cone 3
    • 1 box jump (or step up) to 4 dips
      • Repeat with 2, then 3 box jumps
      • partner wheelbarrow to fourth position
      • During the box jumps, YHC noticed Wheezer had an extra spring in his jumps for a few of the reps and then he fled his wall position for a new spot.  Seems there was a snake on the ground near where he was exercising.  Whether it was actually alive is not known.
  • Cone 4
    • Jack Webb – (1:4 ration) for 3 reps
      • Run around to cone 1

For round 2 of the cones, we did reps 4-6 at each station.

Mosey to the wall on the south side of HT parking lot for to Dora with your partner

  • Merkins – 100
  • LBCs – 200
  • Squats – 300

Back to COT

Great work by the pax.  Special welcome to FNG “Panda”, who looked like a regular out there, despite it being his first time.  It was also great seeing Cobra Kai at a boot camp!  Hopefully the ruckers won’t revoke his membership for taking a step out of the dark side.  Thanks to Decibel for scheduling me to Q.  Look forward to next time!

-old bay

 

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Dealer’s Choice: Shovel Flag hand-off at The Ballroom

A beautiful early fall morning with a bright moon called some hearty soles to the “new” Ballroom. Q-drenaline was surging in my veins as the cars kept rolling in. YHC was proud to have my 2.1, Pigeon roll out of the fartsack to join us. As no FNGs were present, an abbreviated disclaimer was offered. Off we went.

Mosey to inbound carpool lines and circle up. COP: (all IC), SSH *20, Windmills * 15, Merkins * 10, Pater Parkers * 10, Plank-o-Rama (As hard as I try, YHC still can’t get execute the hand/foot in the air combo), Squats * 20, MNC*25. Now that we’re warmed up, mosey to the gym wall. Before we got to the wall sits, YHC offered a few words on Leadership: F3 is an incredible opportunity to hone your leadership skills. As I am also a scout leader, F3 has sharpened my abilities and made me much more comfortable taking on the mantle of leadership.

Wall-sits while Pax on each end run out of line, do 5 squats, return and next man goes. Repeat, but this time each Pax does 5 Bombjacks. Nice form by Twister and Anchorman had a nice vertical. Now that the hammys are sufficiently smoked, mosey to the staff parking lot, under the bright lights for:

Deck O Pain: Each Pax draws a card and the group does the number of exercises on the card. Exercises were based upon the suit shown on each card as follows: Hearts = merkins, Clubs = squats, Diamonds = LBCs, Spades = Bombjacks. Each time a 10 is drawn, everyone run a lap around the lot. This is an easy “set it and forget it” piece and gets everyone engaged in the workout. Newer Pax get a chance to practice calling out the cadence and can gain some confidence in their leadership skills. Some quality mumblechatter followed along with an inordinate amount of merkins. We made it to about card 42 when YHC called an Omaha and had us run one more lap. After that, mosey back to COT.

Before the announcements, YHC offered a quote that I really enjoyed on Leadership:

Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. – Harry S. Truman

 That really hit home- having the courage to lead and building my skills are areas that I often fall short on. But sharpening iron alongside my brothers will help me to progress in these areas.

Announcements: upcoming Invergence and Convergence, G-fit workout on Fridays, read your newsletter. Prayer and a praise for our scout leaders of Pack 250, other prayers for Houston, F3 Columbia team and injured Pax. Cake Boss took us out with an awesome, prayerful giving of thanks for the leadership shown by fellow Pax and asking that we each become the leader that our Father meant us to be.

Before we got to Prayers, the Shovel Flag for the Ballroom was officially passed off to YHC as the new Site Q. I was honored when Cake Boss asked me to take over for him. Big shoes to fill there, but this is always a solid group of supportive Pax, so just know that I’ll be reaching out to each of you to get on the schedule. Thanks also go out to Change Order for leading this AO for many years. One reason I was glad when Cake Boss approached me about taking over as site Q was that I had thought about it when Change Order had been looking for someone months ago. Probably should have stepped up then, but opportunity came knocking again. As always, color me honored and humbled. See y’all in The Gloom.

Short Sale out.

 

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Colombia Mission Trip Sendoff @ The Ranch 9-7-17

On a cool morning in early September, the men of The Fort gathered together to support the group of 12 men that answered the call to serve those in need in Colombia.

Mosey to the soccer field

The Warm-up (VQ led by Skinny Jeans)

  • 20 4-count side straddle hops 
  • 15 4-count windmills
  • 10 4-count Merkens
  • 15 4-count mountain climbers
  • 20 low slow squats
  • 8 burpees OYO

Mosey to the football field

The Thang

Markers set up every 25 yards on the football field from endzone to endzone. PAX will start from one endzone and run from marker to marker and do the following exercises (below) at each. They will then run on the track back to the starting point.

  • 10 merkins, 2 burpees
  • back to start – LBCs for six
  • 10 Carolina DD, 2 burpees
  • back to start – flutter for six
  • 10 squats, 2 burpees
  • back to start – American Hammer for six
  • 10 bomb jacks, 2 burpees
  • back to start – freddy mercury for six
  • 10 dips, 2 burpees
  • back to start – heels to heaven for six
  • 10 lunges (5 per leg), 2 burpees
  • back to start -diamond LBCs for six
  • 2 burpees per marker

Mosey to COT

Today we focused on the 12 men that are leaving tomorrow to serve in Colombia. We had the privilege of hearing the reasons why each of them have been called to serve during todays workout and then pray over them at the close. We are all lucky to have these men as our brothers and will continue to pray for them as they make their way abroad.

As mentioned in COT, each of us were blessed with passion for certain causes and influence to impact them. Find your passion and your calling and answer that call, whatever it may be.

Ginsu

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Game Set Match

13 posted to Laces In/Laces Out on a morning when Sky Q provided the natural version of the NFL’s Cool Zone to keep the pax going through the sweat and pain of another gloomy Thurs morning at FMHS.

5 runners launched at 0500 for Laces Out

9 pax posted at 0515 for boot camp (well, 8 posted for Laces In and Trojan posted for Laces Out…fearing the Spartan wrath that was coming, Trojan peeled off during warm up to get his miles in).

The Thang

Warm up run w/karaoke around parking lot between gym and tennis courts

COP

Mtn climbers x10

Merkins x10

Mtn climbers x10

10x Burpees OYO

Mosey to tennis courts

Line up at corner of base line: Bear crawl to net, sideways crawl across to other sideline, backward bear crawl to baseline, sideways crawl along baseline to starting point

Mosey to baseline on other side of the court: Lunge walk to the net, sideways lunge to other baseline, backward lunge walk to baseline, sideways lunge along baseline to starting point

Mosey to other court and repeat same two cycles from court 1

Mosey to third set of courts closest to football stadium

Line up along near sideline for suicides across two courts

Recovery walk to far sideline

Repeat suicides across both courts

Recovery walk back to original sideline

Mosey to other side of court

Repeat two sets of suicides with recovery walks in between

Mosey to Center Court (middle set of two courts)

Each pax positioned at a baseline corner of one of the courts for Four Corners series
Baseline Corner 1: Merkins x10, run to next corner
Baseline Corner 2: Merkins x10, run to next corner
Net Corner 3: Sumo squats x10, run to next corner
Net Corner 4: Sumo squats x10

Shift clockwise to the next corner
Baseline Corner 1: CDDs x10, run to next corner
Baseline Corner 2: CDDs x10, run to next corner
Net Corner 3: Monkey humpers x10, run to next corner
Net Corner 4: Monkey humpers x10

Shift clockwise to the next corner
Baseline Corner 1: Burpees x10, run to next corner
Baseline Corner 2: Burpees x10, run to next corner
Net Corner 3: Bombjacks x10, run to next corner
Net Corner 4: Bombjacks x10

Shift clockwise to the next corner and repeat prior series
Baseline Corner 1: CDDs x10, run to next corner
Baseline Corner 2: CDDs x10, run to next corner
Net Corner 3: Monkey humpers x10, run to next corner
Net Corner 4: Monkey humpers x10

Victory lap around center court

Run home

Few Mins O Mary — Rosalita x10, Dollies x10, Flutter x10, Freddie Mercury x10

COT

NMM

US Open tennis is underway, so it seemed like an appropriate time to capitalize on the tennis courts.  Proved to be a good appetizer for Shady, who left today to head to NYC to take in a couple days of the Open.

Great to meet Ham and Rebar, recently EH’d by Nomad.  Solid young pax…expecting them to be stepping up for VQ soon.

Good to have Kooter back out.  Pretty certain we worked off some of those calories from the recent road trips.

Chicken Hawk broke out the mumble chatter early in the warm up — Santini would have been impressed!

Hope Li’l E was pleased not to miss out on 10 Merkins during the warm up.  Mind reading the Q can be dangerous…those Merkins ended up being squeezed into the middle of 10 Burpees.

Life has been coming fast and furious to me throughout this spring and summer.  Sometimes it has felt like life has been getting the better of me.  It was great to post in the drizzle and dish out pain to some willing and energetic pax.  Thanks to Li’l E for the invite.

 

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Windjammer Glory Run

Record breaking 16 PAX at Tempo.  Dash to Windjammer and Back was The Thang.  Lots of 2ndF during the 1stF with a 3rdF pause in the middle to give thanks to Sky Q at the Windjammer Dock.

 

View post on imgur.com

Prayers:

Aging Parents, Marriages, Job Situations.

Much thanks given to Sky-Q at the dock this morning… Praise to the King.

 

Announcements:

G-Fit tomorrow at 1900

CAH Guidance Saturday Sept 2 at 1600

Invergence Sept 29th

Read Your Newsletter

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