Progress over Perfection

It was a nice warm morning at ROF where we had 4…yes 4 FNG’s

Warmup

Since tomorrow would’ve been my grandmothers 103’rd birthday we went ahead and did 103 burpees.

12 Burpees on EMOM for 8 minutes + 7 more for 103

At ROF Cousin Eddie is asking us to bring our story/challenges to our Q’s so I incorporated my story into the workout. First was laying the groundwork with what I struggle with.

Testimony:

Ten years ago on paper I was “good”. Had a great job, house, finishing my MBA and my first child was born. Underneath though, I was far from good. I constantly doubted myself, truth be told I didn’t like myself. While I had family and some friends I didn’t have “friends” not like F3. In a word, even though I was surrounded by ppl in a lot of ways I was alone. When stress came, and it did, I wasn’t equipped physically, mentally, or spiritually to deal with it. I didn’t have the positive outlets I needed. So I did the wrong things. I kept it inside, I ate or drank and escaped into lazy excuses. Long story short, I was at least 50-60lbs heavier then compared to what I am now. My first 5 K I finished around 40 minutes. So one day I made the call to get help. I made the call to talk to a therapist. It wasn’t an easy thing to admit but I needed it. Making that call was one of the best decisions of my life. It was the very start of me being able to turn my physical, mental, and spiritual health around. But a lot like a rock just starting to go downhill……that journey didn’t accelerate until about 4 years ago when I joined up with F3.

The doubts still remain….I weigh myself multiple times a day. It’s sounds dumb and unnecessary but it’s just how I check myself. For work I make it a point to be the first to log on/show up on my team each day. For faith I have my SL to continue to inspire me and give me perspective. I can say I am better now than I was….but that journey continues, there’s always a hill to climb and it’ll never end.

So With that, I incorporated 5 sayings/rules that have helped me along the way with different exercises.

Progress over Perfection
4 minutes Tabata Flutters /Lbcs Each Minute increase your total rep count. Push yourselves
Any Great thing isn’t accomplished alone
Bear Crawl Web 1 merkin to 4 bear crawl steps. All the way to 10-40. This was on the Football Field.
Anything worth doing is going to be hard.
25 HR Merkins Sprint down to the opposite Goal line
15 HR Merkins Sprint down to the opposite Goal Line
15 HR Merkins Sprint down to the opposite Goal Line
15 HR Merkins Sprint down to the opposite Goal Line
Occham’s Razor – the simplest explanation/solution is usually the right one
Sprint to the 50 Do 10 Burpees
Sprint to the Goal Line and do 10 burpees
Staring at a hill….doesn’t make it smaller or easier.
Run to the top of the hill by the entrance and do 5 Merkins and 5 LBCS at the top of the hill. Run back down to the bottom and repeat running all the way to COT.

With 10 seconds left I let the Pax know how much I’m thankful for them and that I love them………then I asked them for 5 more burpees.

Honored to lead and to share!

Thank you all!

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Dynamic Duo Q at Alcatraz

It was a chillier than usual Spring morning at Alcatraz (43 degrees) and after setting up TinselUtensils with the help of Straight Up we were ready for an unusual co Q combo with plenty of coupons; at COP we welcomed Prosciutto, he grew up in Tega Cay but now he’s a big part of F3 Chattanooga. AKAY2 crew was there for day 18 of their journey.

The disclaimer was provided by YHC and Straight Up led the warm up with the following:

10 SSHs
Warrior 1
Runner’s Stretch
Deep Runner’s stretch
Sit-on-yer-leg stretch
16 U-gotta-see-it-to-believe-it stretches
4 back stretches
2 X-jumps
3 mins of 5 reps each:
Merkins
Air squat jumps
LBC Twists

after warm up it was time to play with TinselUtensils, PAX  were split into 4 groups and each group went to a station, after completing the station we bear crawled to the next one:

STATION 1:

-> 10 burpees (Fun House noticed that our visitor Prosciutto  clapped at the end of each burpee and we were told that they do that as a standard in F3 Chatt) 

-> 10  Tire flips

-> 20  Monkey Humpers

-> 20 lunges SC

-> 30 low squat (touch the ground with hand)

STATION 2:

USE WEIGHTS OR CINDY

-> 10 man makers

-> 20 biceps curls

-> 20 bent over row

-> 25 overhead press

-> 30 triceps extension

STATION 3:

-> 30 LBC’s

-> 30 Rosalitas

-> 30 Sledgehammer swings  (15 each side)

-> 40 Dying Roach SC

-> 20 slam ball to ground

STATION 4:

-> 10 diamond merkins

-> 20 wide arm merkins

-> 20 regular merkins

-> 30 battle rope wave SC

-> 40 Shoulder taps

-> 40 plank jacks

After all groups completed the full circuit of 4 stations we moved to the grassy area for some Captain Thor’s  Ab Lab: 1 Big boy sit up and 4 American Hammers, progressive to 10 BBSU and 40 AH, this is my favorite Ab Lab combination and even though there was lots of mumble chatter we all finished the exercises.

With about 25 minutes left on the clock it was time for Straight Up’s part of the Q:

Workout:
Grab a heavy item and run to pull-up bars.
We rotated through one round of 50 seconds on and 10 seconds of rest for each of the following stations:

First Round:
Jumping Pull-ups
KB Swings
Commando Pull-ups
Bear crawl up the hill, run down
72 lb sandbag run
Jumping Lunge into 2 SSHs
Mag-R-Tai
Low Slow Squat with 40 lb sandbag
Apollo Ohnos
Dips using a set of real dip bars
The “Worst Merkin Ever”

We then proceeded to run with the heavy items to the top of the hill.
We ran down the hill, broke up into partners and competed against Straight Up.

Second Round:
Goal: to beat Straight Up as a partner team to COT by doing the following:
Partner 1 runs the hill up and down while Partner 2 does slow kick-thru burpees as they wait to be tagged.
Then switch.
Then run up hill again to COT carrying a heavy item of choice (first come first serve).
Straight Up did 2 hill runs with 15 kick-thru burpees each side in between the runs, then ran hill again to COT.
Congratulations to all groups who beat him! Well done!

Unusual F3 event: 3 deer running across our running paths directly in front of us

COT:
Announcements (keep pushing FunHouse this month!), Praises, Prayer requests.
Army PT Test Wed at The Coop

Tinsel out…

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Games At Pantheon

7 HIM began with a brief disclaimer followed by a mosey to the back of the school, the long way.

Circle up for Warm-O-Rama:
2 slow windmills.  Q altered his count for a HALT when he realized the wind was about to be stronger, so we did:
2 medium windmills.  Q altered his count for a HALT when he realized it was going to be a hurricane, so we did:
10 fast windmills.
Imperial Walkers x 15
Freddie Murcuries x 15
LBC’s x 15
Plank to 6″ for a 10-count, back to plank, right arm up, wave goodbye to clear skies, plank, left arm up, wave goodbye to clear skies, plank, 6″ for a 10-count. Recover on feet.
Q joins circle for Howling Monkeys (hold monkey humper position while one PAX at a time completes a 10 count monkey humpers), went two times through. Mosey to field in front of TCES

THA THANG: LET THE GAMES BEGIN

Considering the Q felt like we all may be stuck in our homes without power and we may have to play games with our kids, Q decided to  play some outdoor games while we could.
GAME 1: The BOPO Cornhole
Q brought cornhole boards, teams of 2 (one w/3). Start with 15 points (21 for the team of 3). Each team member threw two bags to attempt to reduce the score of 15.  Remaining number was # of BOPO reps.  Most ended up with 12.  Q modified all down to 7 reps, as he expected better cornhole throwers.  We did not do well.  Each PAX did 7 BOPO’s (Burpee, One-legged Burpee, Plank Jack, Other One-legged Burpee).  Thank goodness for modification.

Q is from God’s country, Minnesota, where the proper name for the next games is Duck Duck Grey Duck  (How does a goose get thrown in there? So silly…).  The only difference is PAX holds Al Gore whilst playing.  Played until our legs were shot.

Next, in consideration of the hurricane, we did the Bermuda Triangle.  3 cones approx. 30 yards apart, in the shape of *you guessed it* a triangle.  Cone 1, one burpee.  Cone 2, two burpees.  Cone 3, three burpees.  Rinse and repeat.  Travel from cone to cone via bear crawl.

Last game of the day was a nice game of frisbee.  Each PAX got a throw.  Upon the throw, PAX sprinted toward the frisbee.  As soon as it hit the ground, the thrower of the frisbee called out how to get the reminder of the way there. (Bear crawl, Crab Walk, Reverse Crab Walk, Duck Walk, Lunge Walk, Broad Jump).

Lastly, a little Triple Check. One team of 3 and One team of 3 plus Q.  Partner 1 held people’s chair while Partner 2 held plank while Partner 3 sprinted to the end of the parking lot and back.  Completed three of each position.

COT, announcements, prayers, praises, BOM.

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I Love When A Plan Comes Together

“I love when a plan comes together”  Famous quote from ’80s TV series The A-Team.  Here’s a brief description of the show, for you youngsters:

“In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire… the A-Team.”

Why the reference?  It was the first thought in my head when faced with finding a last minute Q and trying to coordinate the last week of the Iron Pax Challenge.  The Challenge was originally scheduled to take place at the Pantheon, but it required pull-up bars so the location was changes to Fort Mill High School.  No worries, Bolt and I worked it out. The plan came together.

Six men showed up for the workout.  After the disclaimer, we ran around the car loop to the front of the school.  Next, we performed the following dynamic leg exercises:

  • Butt Kickers
  • High Knees
  • Lunges
  • Soccer Circles

Next, we ran to the basketball court in the back of the school for COP.

  • SSH x 20
  • Imperial Walker x 20
  • Windmill x 10
  • Plank
    • Honeymooner
    • Parker Peter x 10
    • Downward Dog
    • Peter Parker x 10
    • Honeymooner
    • Mountain Climber x 10
    • Downward Dog
  • LBCs x 10
  • Flutter x 10

Next, we lined up on the baseline for several rounds of basketball sprints.  Partner 1 performed the below exercises while Partner 2 ran sprints:

Merkins (Rinse and repeat)

Squats (Rinse and repeat)  *Partner 2 – bear crawl to center court and back

Burpees (Rinse and repeat)

Plank hold (Rinse and repeat).

We finished up with a slow jog back to COT.

 

Announcements:

 

6th Annual Invergence – Sept 21st at 1730 Rush Pavillon

 

Prayers/Praises:

Schools back in session – prayers for students, teachers, administration, and parents

Injured Pax

Health of family members

 

 

 

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Iron PAX Challenge – Week 3

9 men showed up for the third week of the Iron PAX Challenge including an FNG who had recently moved from Arizona.  We were very kind and tired after the challenge, thus giving him the name “Wildcat.  I explained how this morning’s workout would not be your typical workout.  He was willing to give it a try.

After the disclaimer, I provided a rundown of the events for the morning (see below).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went around the circle for 5 minutes of warm-up exercises, then we began the 30 minute challenge.  Like last week, it was very difficult, especially the hand release merkins.  Here are the results for the group:

F3 Name                                                  Reps

Lutefisk                                                      492

Mr. Clean                                                   315

Straight Up                                               499

Cha Ching                                                 524

Mile High                                                   342

Wildcat (FNG)                                           255

Soprano                                                     330

Fishsticks                                                   495

Bolt                                                              HIM

 

Everyone did a great job again this week.  Cha Ching and Straight Up set the pace for the group. Lutefisk, Mr Clean, and Wildcat had impressive showings for their first challenge.

Prayers:

Lukefisk and his mother

Cha Ching and his M

Others unspoken

 

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