Guinea Pigs

Three PAX for YHCs first Q out at Disney. Not realizing when I signed up to Q that it was BRR week and the normally heavily attended AO was a little light. YHCs workout was planned for a larger group, but we carried on anyway using Full House, Redenbacher, and myself as Guinea pigs, for a tough workout.

EC: Coal Ash, Full House, Redenbacher

FNGs: None

Warm Up: Lap around fields, 5 burpees OYO, toe touch (10 second count), quad stretch (10 sectond count each leg), and daisy pickers, windmills, fazio arm circles all in cadence before ending with 10 merkins OYO.

The Workout: Suicides! YHC set up cones at four locations from end to end on the soccer field. At each line, PAX did a set of exercises, increasing in reps at each line, before heading back to start line. Each return to the starting line, PAX did a burpee adding 1 each time. On the last run, PAX stayed on opposite end for 50 mountain climbers. We did 4 rounds.

Exercises each round…

  1. Round 1: Get-ups (5), Merkins (10), Plank Jacks (15)
  2. Round 2: Merkins (5), Squat Jumps (10), Lunges (15 each leg)
  3. Round 3: LBCs (25), Dying Cockroaches (50), American Hammers (25)
  4. Round 4: LBCs (25), Dying Cockroaches (50), American Hammers (25)

Still had 10 minutes left so YHC called an audible. Moseyed to picnic tables for the following exercises:

  1. Peoples chair (80 second count)
  2. Step-ups (20 each leg)
  3. Dips (15 in cadence)
  4. Step-ups (15 each leg)
  5. Derkins (15 in cadence)
  6. Step-ups (10 each leg)
  7. Dips (15 in cadence)
  8. Step-ups (5 each leg)

Mary: Plank hold 60 seconds

Announcements: 9/11 stair climb, see slack and Facebook

T-Claps (Recognition):

Prayer: Full House took us out: BRR men, injured PAX

Dorian are you here yet?

YHC (H1N1) arrived early to Kenny’s Grave for a little extra EC before the Hurricane Party got started.  Pulling into the parking lot, YHC saw Cupid was already parked but nowhere to be found – must be out getting in some extra mileage (6+ to be exact).  BS, LED, and Fonzie rolled in ready to go followed by Martini – Cupid was soon sighted coming back in and then the PAX headed out for 3 miles for pre-party festivities.  PAX returned from EC to see some additional party goers had arrived and quickly learned that Norm also completed some EC starting at 0505.

0530 arrived, time to get this Hurricane Party started!  12 Pax showed up but we were missing the guest of honor – Hurricane Dorian was delayed and had not arrived – no matter the Pax proceeded on.  Based on yesterday’s forecast for rain, YHC had planned for a shelter workout so a mini audible was called and the workout was performed in the parking lot under the clouds.

Warm Up: Pax took a lap around the parking lot mixing in butt kickers, high knees, and high skips.  YHC explained that reps from today’s exercises will be exaggerated and slow just like Dorian and conducted in multiple of 5s since at one point Dorian was a CAT 5 storm.

Good mornings x 5 IC; IW and HB x 5 IC; arm stretching

The Workout: Spelled out Dorian

D – Dan Taylors, 1 squat:4 lunges (alt. legs) for 5 rounds (multiplying the ratio by 2 each round)

O – One Calls, 8 count merkin for 5 rounds.  Each count held in place for 5 seconds. 1 – down just above the ground; 2 – hand release; 3 – up; 4 – Floyd Merriweather right punch; 5 – right arm down; 6 – Floyd Merriweather left punch; 7 – left arm down; 8 full plank

R – Rochanburpees, partner up from some rock, paper, and scissors.  Loser does 2 burpees while winner does 2 merkins.  If tie, both partners do merkins.  Play 5 rounds doubling the count each time.

I – Imperial Squat Walker – performed 5 rounds IC. 1 – squat; 2 – right knee to opposite elbow; 3 – squat; 4 – left knee to opposite elbow

A – ATM, perform 5 rounds of the following: 5 alternating shoulders, 5 tempo merkins, and 5 fast merkins

N – Not so Lazy Boys – start on your six with legs extended. Cross arms and grab sides.  Slowly lean back as far as possible without legs coming up.  Hold 5 seconds, rotate right and hold 5 seconds, return middle and hold 5 seconds, and rotate left and hold 5 seconds

Finished a little early so we heading to the snack shack for Peoples Chair with mini seal claps x 25 IC

Mary: Pax went around the horn calling out a variety of exercises delivered in multiples of 5
Announcements: see Facebook and Slack
T-Claps (Recognition): Half of the Pax in attendance also completed EC; Cupid for 10 miles EC
Prayer: FedEx unspoken; BS shoulders; impact of Hurricane Dorian

Ultimate at….Sugg!

FNGs: None
Warm Up: OYO
The Workout: Ultimate!
Mary: More Ultimate for anyone interested.
Announcements: 9/11 Stair Climb

I forgot everything else…sorry. Work/school was a bit hectic this week so the backblast is tardy.

Week 1 IPC

EC 187, Fumunga

FNGs:none
Warm Up: SSH, good mornings, fazio arm circles, Dynamic arm stretches

The Workout:week 1 ICP

5 rounds of the following

broad jump 10 yrds

10-burpees, 10 Bonnie Blair’s , 10 Big Boy Situps

broad jump 10 yrds

10-burpees, 10 Bonnie Blair’s , 10 Big Boy Situps

broad jump 10 yrds

10-burpees, 10 Bonnie Blair’s , 10 Big Boy Situps

Bear crawl back to start

Mary:not enough time
Announcements:9/11 stair climb possum trot cancelled next week. Als walk Sept 29th. (Chaching)

Prayer:F3 guys at brr for safe travels and run,

Platypus?

EC: Fullhouse

FNGs: None

Warm Up: Not today..we were DETERMINED to get after it.

The Workout:

I decided to try a “new” route this morning that incorporated some of the first few miles of the Holly Springs Half Marathon. When we were finished and looked at the map, I noticed a slight resemblance to a Platypus? You guys see it, right??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary: She was MIA.

Announcements: BRR this weekend. Good luck to all PAX !

T-Claps (Recognition): Full House for getting in EC.

Prayer: Noah’s Ark and his wife Michelle, Crablegs, all PAX running BRR and they remain healthy.

YHC took us out. It was an honor to lead.

1 Year Anniversary Q – Part 1

FNGs: None

Warm Up:

YHC was running a little short on time coming back from EC so 10 PAX jumped right into a quick mosey around the parking lot to get the juices flowing. Even though the temps were in the upper 60’s, humidity was about 99% so we were all sweating pretty much right out of the gate.

We started with some Good Mornings (x10 IC), Windmills (x10 IC), Sir Fazio Arm Circles (x10 IC forward & reverse); Daisy Pickers (x10 IC); SSH (x20 IC)

The Workout:

YHC made no promises about the BRR friendliness of this workout. Good move because it wasn’t.

First exercise was a Indian run around the parking lot (same route as the opening Mosey) – past PAX did 3 Turkish Get Ups and sprinted to the front of the line. I took about 3 laps around before all PAX got their TGU’s in but we got it done and were ready for the next challenge which was…

Everyone picked a partner (size was irrelevant). Partner 1 did an ab exercise while partner 2 ran about 100 meters to do a non-ab exercise, then run back to partner 1 – switch places – rinse & repeat for 5 rounds.

Round 1: WW2’s / Merkins x 15 IC
Round 2: LBC’s / Prisoner Squats x 30
Round 3: Freddie Mercuries / Shoulder Tap Merkins x 15 IC
Round 4: Low Slow Flutter / Monkey Humpers x 20 IC
Round 5: Plank Jacks / Burpees x 10
A little grumbling was heard about how non-BRR friendly the workout was to this point but everyone kept going nonetheless.
With about 15 minutes left, we moseyed to the rock pile to procure a medium size rock for 2 rounds of Curls for the Girls, Tricep Extensions and Overhead Press (Round 1 x15 IC; Round 2 x10 IC).
Rocks were returned then we moseyed back to the front parking lot for the exciting conclusion.

Mary:

We went around the horn for a 10 count of PAX choice which notably included Diamond Merkins, Burpees and a down and back sprint.

Announcements:

BRR this weekend

9/11 Stair Climb next week @ 5:45am – be on the lookout for clown car options.

There will be a 3rd F opportunity at Healing Transitions at 9am(?) to spread mulch – should take 2-3 hours followed by a 2nd F.

T-Claps (Recognition): BRR guys for not bailing out on a “Non BRR friendly” workout. You know who you are. Martini for making it out to EC

Prayer:

Crab Legs; Shredder; others with injuries or other challenges keeping them from posting

BRR this weekend – safety before, during and after the race

Why Breathtaker?

Breathtaker Challenge:

For those who don’t know, this is the Breathtaker Challenge:

  • Wear a 20# weighted vest to 5 F3 workouts in a week
    • Workouts can be in any region; can be a ruck, a run, a boot camp.  If it’s an F3 workout (5 core principles!) it counts
    • A week generally spans Friday-Friday.  Pick up the vest after Cletus COT and return it the next week.
  • There’s only one vest, so the opportunity to wear the vest will be auctioned off at COT.  All the money raised by the auction will go to the charity of the month.
  • The guy who wins the vest the first Friday of the month gets to pick the charity that month.

At the end of the year, all successful Breathtaker challengers will get a shirt that has their name and everyone else’s name who finished.  If you do the challenge more than once, your name will be bigger.

Cool?  Cool.  Everyone understand how that works?  Great.  So, some more insight/ details.

Why Breathtaker?  What was the Vision?

F3 stands for Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith.  Faith being acknowledgement of a higher power and the connection/responsibility we have to those around us.  Our region (SouthWake) kicks ass at Fitness.  We’re so-so at Fellowship.  But historically, we’ve had very little emphasis on the 3rdF.  Guys were more than willing to chip in and help if someone needed it, but after several years, I don’t think we’d made a meaningful difference or impact on Holly Springs / Fuquay-Varina as an organization.  (important note: I think the transformation each one of us has undergone has had a great impact on our families and our individual circles.  But as a group, we have not come together to leverage that in an intentional and ongoing fashion)

So, back in December, a group of us discussed a vision of what a “Healthy 3rd F” would look like in SouthWake.  Some of that sounded like this:

  • The towns in which we lived would know that F3 was there to help if they needed it.  Whether a charity, a church, a family, a school, whatever, when work needed to get done, the men of F3 would be there to help.
  • The Pax of our region would have opportunity and inspiration to reach out to their brothers to get involved in projects about which they are passionate.  If someone wants to make a difference, they would know they could say something and the rest of F3SW would show up in force.
  • There would be a constant stream of opportunities available for men to get involved and make a difference (while doing our best to not overwhelm guys with too much!)  Men come to F3 to get in shape.  They stay because they are making a difference.

So how does Breathtaker Achieve that Vision?

F3 is, by definition, a starfish organization.  There’s not a lot of “top down” leadership.  So while we could have formed a small group that picked some charities to support, inevitably we would have missed something.  So instead, we thought Breathtaker would allow men to pick an organization 12 times through the year.  If someone felt strongly, they could step up and lead (which is what we’re all about!)

Our hope was that, of those 12, a few would really resonate and then next year we would organize the year around 3-5 “big” charity efforts — leaving more room for a lot of “one-off” efforts.  One thing we recognized was that the “smaller” efforts would get swallowed up in the 12 “big” efforts.  We decided it was worth it to get off the ground this year, but next year we would need to be more intentional about giving guys room to organize more opportunities.

We hoped that, by pairing something we were weak at (3rdF) with something we’re quite good at (1stF), guys would be motivated to think about how they could lead a 3rdF effort through wanting to achieve the Breathtaker Challenge.

So did it work?

By and large, yes.  Through 3/4 of the year, we’ve done some great work.  We’ve raised boat loads of money, but we’ve also had opportunities to become closer to guys through charities that are meaningful to them.  While the $7500+ we raised for Meg’s in a month is incredible, I think the month where guys supported Skidmark and his mom’s battle with Ocular Melanoma to be very cool example of what 3rdF could be.  Having a guy wear an eye patch at each workout was a great way for us to participate in a burden Skidmark carries that we probably weren’t all aware of.  I think serving at the Food Cupboard was another highlight of the year for us —next year we will likely focus quite a bit of time there and would love to see us out with our 2.0’s a few times serving that community!  I also hope guys are still getting together with their accountability partner to check deez nutz as per Banana Seat’s suggestion…

But, it wasn’t an unmitigated success.  I’ve heard a few pieces of feedback that are worth highlighting and addressing.

The money flying around at auction is a little … much.  Not a big fan. – A. Nonymous

So, on the one hand, part of what we’re trying to do is raise money.  Raising money via auction has been a pretty solid way to do that.  But, there’s something to be said about “Why should those who can donate a lot get to pick the charity?”  (also, I don’t know what the 3rdF equivalent is to “bat flipping” in 1stF, but the auction is it, for sure).  I’ll tackle the issue in 2 parts:

  1.  Our initial vision included guys pooling their money to support a big effort.  We saw that a few times when the FV / Fritter / 12 Oaks / Woodcreek guys pooled together and won the vest in a given week to let one guy wear it.  Our hope was that if someone was passionate about something, they’d get a few guys behind it to support and make sure the money got raised.  It happened one week organically when Bullseye threw his hat in the ring and we all chipped in a few bucks to make sure he could out-bid anyone else.  So this was a feature, not a bug.
  2. The “bat flipping” at auction can be off putting.  There’s no doubt about it and I won’t minimize this in the least.  F3 is open to all men, regardless of everything and that includes economics.  Some guys are scraping pennies to get by.  Some guys are rolling in that BitCoin bubble.  We are all here for a common purpose.  I recognize the Biblical parable of the Widow’s Mite and that for some, giving $25 is heck of a lot more meaningful than another guy giving $100.  I also recognize that, as much as I want to trip guys like Pikachu when they run effortlessly past me up a hill, if he didn’t run that fast, he’d be cheating himself.  So to with donating money — some guys are learning to give sacrificially and that means they need to dig into their pockets and the auction is motivating them to do that.

With that said, it’s something we’ve tried to be sensitive toward at auction time and have not done the best job with.  We’ll keep trying, but hopefully everyone understands we’re trying to raise money for good causes.

I can’t post 5x / week, let alone wear a vest!

I get it.  I also have seen some guys step up and challenge themselves to post with Breathtaker who I never thought would want to take the challenge (Abe!!!   You killed it man!)  If you have a charity you want to support but can’t rock the vest — see the point above.  Get a champion who’s willing to wear it for you!  Share the load, brother!

So what’s next?

We’ve got 4 months of Breathtaker left.  My hope is October/November guys will rally in support of meaningful holiday charities (keep in mind, if you want do do something for Christmas, it should be done before Christmas…)  I hope guys are thinking about ways they want us to shoulder in and support the community.

Next year, we aren’t going to “run it back”.  This was a 1-year experiment.  There might be a vest to wear, but it’ll be a 1stF challenge, not 3rdF.  We’ll probably take a few of the highlights of this year and dive deeper on them as organized 3rdF, but also give more space for things like the school mulching that 187 / Foghorn organized or the efforts Breach is putting together on 9/11.  My worry is some of those got swallowed up in the bigger month-long efforts and we didn’t support them as well as we could have.

Most importantly, we’re Freed to Lead — we get together at stupid hours of the morning to do stupid fitness things, not just to get in shape, but because we want to be better men.  Giving back and making a difference is a key component of that growth.  So, how can you take this idea (Breathtaker) and use it to do something that you care about?

 

As always, hit me up with any questions.  I’ll do my best to listen and address any concerns you might have.

~ Slide Rule

We Gave All The F’s

FNGs: None

Warm Up: There was some stretching and some sick burns being batted about between Peeping Tom and Lipstick.  These two…

The Workout: AKA 1st F – A 3.5 mile fellowship run that had been piloted by Peeping Tom (or PT as some like to call him).  People that live along this route may want to consider their current security and window covering situation as Tom has repeated this path a few times now 🙂  We proceeded along the red line in the image.  For the first mile there was some continued back and forth between PT and Lipstick followed by some mumblechatter about how much we were all suffering.  All of our food choices were poor leading up to this 7:15pm run.  With heavy stomachs and some cautious moments we pressed on.

About a quarter of the way down to Crossway portion of our run Lipstick happened upon a favorite hill of his – Creekvista Dr I believe it’s called.  You may remember it from a previous R4TJ that he Q’d.  He lead the charge off the red lined path down said hill, Pikachu followed, PT, Cupid, and YHC shrugged and proceeded down the pre-agreed course.  There were still 2 Fs to tackle this evening and we have plenty hills awaiting us for BRR.  As we neared HomeGrown Pizza, Pikachu caught us and soon after that Lipstick.  And now, a word from our sponsor…  HomeGrown Pizza, Official Sponsor of the F3 SouthWake BRR 6-man team

Image result for homegrown pizza

Mary: Let’s steal this section for the 2nd F portion of our evening.  The runners returned from their 1st F to commence 2nd F which started in the Parking Lot as we discussed the merits of running/not running the week leading up to BRR.  As we cooled off and YHC stopped sweating (sort of) we moved the conversation indoors and ordered some drinks.  The 2nd F continued on until we transitioned into 3rd F.  Which admittedly didn’t happen right at 8pm with the scheduled start of Q-Source.  Pablo and our 3rd F Q Dumbo arrived and with the we extended 2nd F as we welcomed them to the table.

At some point we managed to get “serious” and start our 3rd F through Q-Source.  The content this week was definitely conversation provoking and the PAX on-hand did a great job of teasing out the nuance of Exhortation.  You see exhortation looks and feels alot like any other form of encouragement but there are some specific differences in terms of having experienced a challenge (or something pretty similar) before pushing someone else to overcome it or move through it.  Empathy is key and avoiding the role of dictator is a must.  Great leadership by Dumbo through the content.  This guy is always on point.

If you guys arent Q-Sourcing, give it a shot one of these weeks.  Dont worry about being behind or even if you havent read the current weeks content, it doesn’t matter.  It’s worth-while just being in the room and thinking through these concepts week on week.

Announcements: Oct 12th Picnic, 9/11 stair climb

T-Claps (Recognition):  Dumbo – moving us through QSource every week.  Staying on top of the content and always keeping the conversation spirited and collaborative.

Prayer:  Those in the path of the hurricane.  BRR participants.  Noah’s Ark and his wife Michelle

Labor Day Murph

Pax of three for a holiday Monday Murph.  Weather was cooler than usual, but getting tired of the humidity.

EC – John Deere for one mile

FNGs:  None

Warm Up:  Run one mile

The Workout:  100 pull-ups, 200 merkins, 300 squats

Mary: Run one mile

Announcements:  Pot luck  on Oct-12 at Harris Lake

Prayer:  Praying for Ram’s cousin’s family after his tragic death and John Deere’s wife recovery from a dog bite, that looks terrible.

Also praying for Blue Ridge Relay team’s this upcoming weekend.  Hope everyone stays strong and safe!

10 PAX Took a Tour of Falcon Park

FNGs:  None

Warm Up:  Circle up and greeted all of the brothers attending the Nest.  Welcome back Cotter, Chicken Hawk and welcome to The Natural, who said he had never been to this AO and wanted to check things out at Falcon Park in FV.  Circled up with 25 SSH, 10 daisy pickers, 10 windmills, 10 Fazio Arm Circles (F&B), 10 IW, 10 HB,  all in cadence and ended with some Michael Phelps.  Five burpees because of a tardy PAX.

The Workout:  Having moved ~12 yards of mulch (out of 20 total) over the past few days, this Q was not moving well this am but had to muster some energy and bring a workout worthy of the Qs who run The Nest.  Remembering The Natural had not been here before, Q decided to take a tour of Falcon Park. We moseyed to the swing sets where PAX did two sets of 10 pull ups, 10 plank jacks and 10 star jumps; held plank to all PAX finished.  Mosey to a short wall and executed two sets of 10 derkins , dips and irkins.  Mosey to the enclosure with picnic tables and did two laps of up and overs said picnic tables.  Hold Al Gore until all PAX completed.  Mosey to the brick wall by baseball field.  On the way, we executed Frankensteins and lunges.  At the wall, Q called 10 count Australian Mt. Climbers, 10 count people’s chair, 10 count BTTW, 10 count people’s chair, 10 count Shoulder taps and 10 count people’s chair.   Mosey to the inclined driveway with some butt kickers thrown in.  Lined up on the incline drive and bear crawled ~ 20 yards to the stop sign.  Lined up next to the stop sign, began jogging up hill and added Right and Left karaoke until reaching the parking spots.  Lined up in front of parking spots and executed “build a bears” with one merkin at curb (each side) initially and then two merkins at the curb (each side) on the way back.  Executed 25 more SSHs making sure the heart rate was up.  Partner up for 10 broke back merkins and 10 paddy cake merkins.   Got on our six for 25 WW IIs and 20 LBCs.  Somewhere around here, Overachiever walked away to his car.  Sent Cupid to check on him.  (Thanks BS for alerting Q that we had lost one.)  It was muggy with high humidity although temps were in the high 60s.  PAX were soaked with sweat equity and we continued with some static stretching on our six while waiting to hear back on the status of Overachiever.  Q had PAX get up and mosey to the parking lot.  It was getting close to COT.  Q wanted to personally check on PAX who was down.  Directed PAX to get water and the circle up for COT.  BS was befuddled having never heard a call for water during a morning Q.  I needed one and thought it was best for all.

Mary: More importantly, Overachiever was better after a brief respite and some WATER, on to COT.  Had the PAX do some plyometric exercises pushing hands together for a 10 count and then pulling hands (fingers grasped) apart for a 10 count.  Rinse/repeat.   Something new.  Instructed PAX to call out one 10 count core exercise.  We executed Cockroaches, pickle pounders,  merkins, boat canoes, side heel taps, box cutters, H2M, to name a few.  Q took us out with various yoga poses and positions including downward dog, runner’s stretch and pigeon.

Announcements:  9/11 convergence, hurricane preparedness

T-Claps (Recognition):  h1N1, Fromunga (any PAX who did EC today)

Prayer:  PAX brother hiking Kilimanjaro (prayers for his safety), hurricane victims (life/property), Crablegs, Noah’s Ark M., and Unspoken.  Thank you Fromunga for taking us out.

 

An honor and a privilege getting in front of you men leading this workout.  -Dauber