0.0 miles

A PAX of 10 slowly arrived during the wet morning for Crazy Ivan. We headed under the intimate shelter at the amphitheater for a cozy and somewhat dry workout with our bells. Absolutely NO running which meant no time for recovers. This lead to a ton of reps.

Warm ups:
Front bend stretch
GMs
Sir fozios
Windmills

Main Event:
Single arm Swings x15 each arm
Rows x15 each arm
Rainbow lunges x15 each leg
Suitcases x15 each side
Rinse and repeat x10 this rd

Shoulder raises to eye level
Curls
Goblet squats
Triceps
2 rds x15 & x10

Single arm snatchs x15 each side
Side bends x15 IC each side
Pull through merkins x15
Halos x15 each direction
R&R x10 this rd

Mary:
Cookie pouch x10
KB LBC’s x20 IC
LSF x20 IC
Stretching/Broga

Prayers for injured PAX (Fanny Pack and others), PAX struggling to get back out, F3 as a whole.

Been a long time since leading the bells. It makes you push a lot harder and I’m sure I’ll feel it later. Sign up to Q if you plan to workout there on Fridays. Appreciate the opportunity to lead men!

BS out!

2023 F3SW TownHall

2023 F3 South Wake Town Hall

BREACH INTRO

Ground Rules for the Meeting – Show Respect to everyone, Let each other talk, be kind

F3 Core Principles were reviewed
 
Everyone asked to remember our WHY
 
Rough Spots Addressed Up Front – Based on Breach conversations with PAX to this point since becoming Nantan for SW
  • Breathtaker – Seen by some as a measuring contest that was limited to those with the budgets to participate
  • Covid – Division based on and still present since F3 SW AO shutdown
  • June/May Challenge – Competition/Points/Rules – PAX pushing themselves rubbed some the wrong way
Let’s use this opportunity here to discuss our perspectives, work on fixing things, and move on.
 
OPEN DISCUSSION
 
What’s the Problem/Solutions?
  • Pre-covid – more comradery, more community, more supportive.  AOs started despite the shutdown
    • Should we have more convergences to bring a larger group of PAX together more often?
    • Growing number of workouts happening at set dates/times weekly that aren’t on the website, not pre-blasted, don’t present themselves as open to all (undisclosed)
      • Concern raised about FNGs going to these undisclosed workouts, are they being introduced to the greater F3 South Wake?
      • Concern raised about a lack of time shared with PAX that only go to undisclosed workouts
    • Point Countered – some have moved away from Social Media including Slack making it harder to share with a wide audience but noted that there are still some that go to 
    • It was discussed that we have ~472 PAX listed on the website, it was estimated that we have ~100 Active PAX in reality with a split of about 20 in FV / 18 “BlackOps” / 40 HS
      • Feeling was that we are losing PAX, folks are falling out, and our division can lead to the feeling that we are lacking in community
      • It was countered that covid or not, this has always been the case.  People decide F3 isnt for them, cold weather, hot weather, life happens, injuries, it’s always in flux
      • The PAX that arent showing up are opportunities for us to continue reaching out and staying in touch – growing 2nd and 3rd F would mean avoiding losing PAX to injury or workout related reasons for not showing up.
      • Lots of good growth and FNGs joining us all the time – great leadership coming from them too.
  • We used to be more grass roots, less structured – No one person calling the shots
    • Lot’s of rules being dictated down from the leadership team, should we remove leadership and be more FREED TO LEAD?
    • Point countered
      • Leadership team is a model that exists throughout the nation.  Part of what F3 is
      • No dictators in the leadership team just FREED TO LEAD PAX trying to help set examples around the Fs
      • Other than Covid there have been no rules or mandates passed down nor should any one F3 person be able to do so.
      • As in Covid, it was suggested that F3 not officially meet in alignment with national and state laws – black ops AOs popped up, no one stopped them.
  • Transitioned to a run club, covid spurred more running for all PAX and it’s continued
    • Bootcamps are pushing 3+ miles, R4TJ is pushing 9-10 miles
      • Was told that if you don’t expect to bring 3 mile minimum to Paradise City, don’t expect to Q by Site Q
    • Point countered re:mileage
      • Strava shows more experienced runners ‘picking up the six’ for greater mileage at AOs
      • Paradise City is listed as a high intensity workout with a 3 mile min expectation every week
    • BREACH:
      • Reviewing website listings to ensure clarity on what bootcamps vs running vs high intensity means
      • Conversations with Site Qs around working to maintain a standard depending on the expectation bootcamps should be less than 2mi, shovel flags, Q School, etc
  • Did we grow too fast?  Should we consider shutting down some AOs?
    • Discussion in the room resulted in the idea that AOs should self-govern, Site Qs should take responsibility/decision to officially close it down based on lack of attendance/Qs
  • We need to plant shovel flags more often
    • Site Qs need to take responsibility for planting a flag
    • It was suggested that we should have a 2nd F for making shovel flags – DOC and VIDEO examples – these are all over the internet
  • We need to keep up with BackBlasts
    • These are maybe largely unseen but a valuable resource for FNGs learning about F3 and eventually running their own Qs
    • Can be valuable to PAX going to a new/different AO to get a sense of what typically happens there.
    • Can be valuable to PAX Qing an AO for the first time
    • BackBlast Generator is now available to make it easier – Ask SoftServe for a website login if you dont already have one.
  • 2nd F
    • Is in a good place – Coffee is shared almost daily and regularly
    • It was asked that there be more emphasis on sticking around after COT if possible, 2nd F can be open to more with a few more minutes in the lot
    • More social events?  Rush Hour Karting was suggested recently, talk of a 75 Hard BBQ Celebration
      • Need more leadership in planning events, just like 1st this is a leadership opportunity
      • Doesn’t have to be well thought out or planned – Pick up BB games, Disc Golf, whatever you’re into just invite others if you are looking for people to hang with.
  • 3rd F
    • We have always been great about stepping up and taking care of our own – family hardships, celebrating new 2.0s, moves, etc
    • HS Food Cupboard is still out there but they are getting alot of support from the Boy Scouts, less needs for us at the moment
    • Holly Springs and Fuquay Town partnerships have been good for F3 SW
      • Can we shift our relationship to be less about manual labor?  What else can we offer?  Professional Services?
      • It was pointed out that things like HollyFest have been great for bringing FNGs to Fuquay
      • FV PAX were set to be at CelebrateFV but it was cancelled due to weather in 2022
      • We are listed as a free exercise class in Fuquay Parks and Rec – has brought FNGs and made our workouts officially sanctioned by the town so we won’t be kicked out of parks.
    • School Partnerships to find more 3rd F opportunities, improve our relationships there as well
      • Will likely need to find local school leaders – NutCracker has had the Principal at a workout before 😀
    • Parade Participation?
    • Abe is our 3rd F Q
      • Reach out if you need support with any ideas on 3rd F leadership opportunities.
      • Freed to lead, we need leadership in 3rd F and 2nd F like we have in 1st.  If you see something worth doing go after it.
    • 3rd F is organic and is best limited to 3-5 guys, shared bible study or book study
    • Doesn’t just have to be about doing physical good, it’s about spiritual good as well.  Great examples out there today on this too.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
  • We can’t force our way back to the way things were.  Things Change.
  • Intentionality.  We should still figure out who we want to be as a region and individuals and work towards it.
  • Negativity spawns negativity – we need to be mindful of how we talk to one another.  Especially on Slack where inside jokes and playful banter can be taken the wrong way.  
  • Slack – Think your messages through and recognize when in-person, phone, or direct text messages to smaller groups are warranted.
  • If you aren’t adhering to the F3 Core Principles, you aren’t running or attending an F3 workout.

1 and Done

3 HIM decided to make their way to Disney on a wet and warm morning in the gloom. YHC had two plans of which both should equally suck. A shelter workout if it was pouring or a trip to the stairs aka The Abyss in the drizzle. We all agreed this was a terrible workout so my vote is for it to be retired. One and Done. Here it is.

We ripped the bandaid right off taking a lap around the track and hitting multiple large puddles.

Warm up back in parking lot.
Good mornings
Willie Mayes Hayes
Frankensteins
Mtn climbers
Merkins

Main Event
We each grabbed a cinderblock from the secret hideout. Then moseyed over to the Abyss. YHC called out the exercises.
100 Abyss merkins using the blocks
100 ground pounders with blocks
100 rut rows with blocks
Break these reps up into 5-6 rounds.
Staggered going down and up the stairs.
1st trip – bear crawl down and run back up
2nd – run down bear crawl up
3rd – run down bunny hop up
4th – run down hit every step both feet up
5th – OYO
6th – OYO
Great support to finish all the reps as we were completely smoked on the last round.

Mosey back to return blocks.

45 secs for Mary but YHC choose to not get our backs wet. You’re welcome.

No new announcements.
Prayers for Breach traveling. Bobby with possible job change. My M with a cough that keeps hanging around.

Men, thanks for the support. I tend to come up with stuff that will challenge myself and others but still be able to modify. This one really pushed me to exhaustion. Great push from all. Pleasure to lead.

BS Out!

purp-cobra-moving

Purple Cobra Backblast – Brought to you by Dall-e 2 and Microsoft Bing

FNGs: NOPE

Warm Up: A short mosey around the very small parking lot

The Workout:

I was just invited to use Microsoft Bing’s new AI.  This was my first time using it. 

Here was my prompt:

Generate a story about an F3 workout called purple cobra where we ran 0.69 miles, did a workout routine called coyote ugly, a murph DORA, and stair climbs on picnic benches. Guys with named Pumpkin Spice, Woody, Snap, Hasselhoff, Brexit, Cancun, Jellybeans, Stubs, and UTI were there

And a correction I asked for…

Change the story and change the QIC to UTI, change the Coyote Ugly workout to be a wheel barrow merkin walking up the picnic table on your hands and back down again, replace the squats with LBCs, and change the 400 meter run to an out and back army crawl

This is the backblast it wrote for me, I put the questionable information in bold (you can tell it’s sourcing other backblasts posted on the internet but pretty cool!):

It was a cold and dark morning when Pumpkin Spice, Woody, Snap, Hasselhoff, Brexit, Cancun, Jellybeans, Stubs and Purple Cobra gathered at the park for an F3 workout. They were greeted by UTI, the QIC for the day. He had a wicked grin on his face as he announced the plan for the workout.

"Today we're going to do a wheel barrow merkin walking up the picnic table on your hands and back down again," he said. "Then we're going to partner up for a Murph DORA. One partner will do an out and back army crawl while the other does 100 pull-ups, 200 push-ups and 300 LBCs. You switch when your partner comes back and keep going until you finish all the reps. Then we're going to finish with some stair climbs on picnic benches. You'll do 20 step-ups on each leg followed by 20 dips on each bench."

The PAX groaned as they heard the brutal workout ahead of them. They knew UTI was notorious for his challenging Qs. But they also knew that F3 was about pushing themselves beyond their comfort zone and growing stronger together.

They started with the wheel barrow merkin walking up the picnic table on your hands and back down again. UTI paired them up and instructed them how to do it: one partner holds the other's legs while he walks on his hands up one side of the table then does a merkin then walks down the other side then does another merkin then switches roles.

The PAX quickly realized that this was one of the hardest exercises they had ever done. The wheel barrow merkin walking up the picnic table on your hands and back down again was exhausting and painful on their arms chest core legs balance coordination

They encouraged each other with shouts of "You got this!" and "Almost there!" as they completed each round of wheel barrow merkins.

They also teased each other with nicknames like "Pumpkin Spice Latte", "Woody Toy Story", "Snap Chat", "Hasselhoff Knight Rider", "Brexit Britain", "Cancun Spring Break", "Jellybeans Easter", "Stubs Nubs" and "Purple Cobra Dodgeball".

They finally finished wheel barrow merkin walking up the picnic table on your hands and back down again and moved on to Murph DORA. They paired up with their buddies and grabbed a pull-up bar or a tree branch.

Murph DORA was another beast of a workout that tested their endurance and strength. The pull-ups were hard on their arms and shoulders, the push-ups were tough on their chests and triceps, and the LBCs were killer on their abs.

They cheered each other on as they did an out and back army crawl between their partners and did their reps. They also challenged each other with friendly competition like "Come on Woody! Don't let Pumpkin Spice beat you!" or "Hasselhoff! You're faster than Snap!"

They finally finished Murph DORA after what seemed like an eternity. They were dripping with sweat and panting hard.

They thought they were done but UTI had one more surprise for them.

"Alright PAX! Let's go to those picnic benches over there!" he shouted.

The PAX groaned again as they followed him to the benches.

UTI explained how to do stair climbs: step up onto one bench with one leg then bring up your other leg then step down onto another bench then repeat with your other leg then do dips by placing your hands behind you on one bench then lowering yourself until your elbows are at 90 degrees then pushing yourself back up then moving onto another bench then repeat.

The PAX did stair climbs until their legs felt like jelly and their arms felt like noodles.

They finally finished stair climbs after what felt like forever.

UTI called them into a circle of trust where they counted off said their name age F3 nickname thanked him for leading them prayed together gave announcements about upcoming workouts events community service opportunities etc

They ended with a group photo where they smiled proudly despite being tired sore dirty

They had just completed an epic F3 workout led by UTI

They had just experienced fitness fellowship faith

They had just become better men

Mary:

The AI forgot about Mary but then again I didn’t really prompt it to talk about Mary

  • Homer to Marge
  • Box Cutters
  • Flutter Kicks
  • Arm Stretches
  • Runners Pose
  • Leg and Back Stretches

Announcements:

F3SW Town Hall Meeting tonight at 7pm – Bass Lake Boat House

T-Claps (Recognition):

Brexit on an impressive finish at Wrightsville, let’s wish him luck for Tobacco Road up next in 3 weeks.

Prayer:

For all the parents out there working hard to guide our children through life.  Give us strength!

 

We didn’t actually take a photo after the workout.  So here is what dall-e 2 cooked up for me 😀

Another trip around the sun

YHC wanted to celebrate another year here the right way, which consists of a good sweat and some fellowship.  A great bunch of guys came out enjoy the “fun” and get their days started off the right way too.  Let it be known that holding a derkin position for a long time is harder than you might think.  Trust me on this one.

FNGs:

None

Warm Up:

SSH x43 IC

Imperial Walkers x10 IC

Hillbillies x10 IC

Sir Fazio Arm Circles x10 IC forward and reverse

Windmill x10 IC

Daisy Pickers x10 IC

Merkins x10

Burpees x10 OYO

The Workout:

Mosey to the shelter and grab a spot at one of the benches for 11’s with step ups and dips.  We stared with 11 step ups and 1 dip and worked our way around.  When we got to 1 step up YHC though 1 was lame and audibled to 10 but Banana Seat thought 43 sounded better so we went with that instead.  Good call BS!

Mosey to the knee wall and did 10 more merkins.

PAX were then instructed that we’d be doing a bear crawl derkin indian run kind of thing.  Everyone got up in derkin position and the man at the end would bear crawl to the other end of the line, get up, and call out 5 derkins.  We successfully made it all the way to the stairs but not without a healthy (and justified) amount of grunts and groans.  On the way back down we switched to irkins instead but still stuck with the bear crawls.

After that we did 10 more burpees and then headed to the wall behind the baseball field.

Everyone lined up on the wall for alternating people’s chair and BTTW.  We started with 13 PC and 13 BTTW and then went down to 10 each until we completed 43 of each.  Then, at the end, as an added bonus, we did 16 more of each (for 16-bit).  Once that was complete we did another set of 10 merkins and 10 burpees.

We then moseyed up the steps by the wall to the back hill.  We did 5 merkins and burpees and then jogged to the bottom of the hill for sprints back up to where we started.  5 more merkins and burpees before heading back down.  Another sprint up and we completed the workout with 3 burpees and 3 merkins (43 of each in total).  Then back to the parking lot to circle up for…

Mary:

Cirlced up for popcorn Mary where everyone except Banana Seat (due to time) called out an exercise.

Kitty Littr had us doing 20 LBCs

Gamecock called out 20 Homer to Marge, 10 with left legs in the air and 10 with the right.

Pumps (who looks like Martini when you’re laying on the ground and looking at him upside down) asked for 20 low slow flutter.

Actual Martini then had us doing 20 American Hammers

We were at the 45:06 mark at this point so we called it.

Announcements:

Town Hall meeting tonight at 7:00pm at the Bass Lake boat house.  If you can’t make it and have thoughts or comments please send them to Breach ahead of time.

Prayer:

YHC has an ex-coworker who lost his wife to a heart attack on Saturday evening.

Banana Seat’s friend from church was diagnosed with ALS and it is affecting him rapidly.

Gamecock’s sister had a baby!  They were induced and the baby is in the NICU but all signs are looking good and they’re hoping they can go home even before they had originally thought.

It truly is a blessing that I get to start today off with you men.  I’m thankful for all of you and am honored to know you.  Have a great day, I know mine will be because I started it off with you.

010000

Broken strap on

FNGs: No

Warm Up: The usual

The Workout: 7’s on the hill, squats & star jumps.  Then PAX grabbed coupons, headed to the parking lot and set up Six stations: merkin, lbc, dips, curls, lbc, shoulder press.  

6 PAX exercised while 7th pax was the timer – pulling Quadzilla from a predetermined start line, to a predetermined turnaround (approx 30 yards), and finish at the start line.  3 full rounds were completed by each PAX.  Fun times

Mary:  side hip raise, then some others that ive forgotten

Announcements:

T-Claps (Recognition):

Prayer:

3 Amigos_rocks

Amigos and Boulder Bases

FNGs: Welcome Sombrero!

Warm Up: slide straddle hops, good mornings, Willie May Hayes, imperial walkers, hillbillies, sir fazio arm circles, seal claps

The Workout: Boulder Bases: 8 PAX moseyed to the rocks, grabbed our pick of the litter to play a game YHC calls Boulder Bases. Along the road surrounding the tennis courts, we started at one corner (1st base) doing rock exercises of 10 clean/squat/press, 10 curls for the girls, 10 lunges, and 10 rut rows. Rifle carried our rocks to 2nd base and dropped them before doing body-weight exercises at each base: 5 burpees at 2nd base, 5 burpees + 10 merkins at 3rd base, 5 burpees+ 10 merkins + 15 big boy situps at “home plate,” and 5 burpees + 10 merkins + 15 big boys + 20 squats at 1st base. From there, we moseyed to 2nd base to do another round of rock exercises. Then we rifle carried the rocks to 3rd base. We carried on this routine until we could get the rocks to “home plate”. We changed up the body-weight exercises throughout, but kept the same structure.

Mary: No time

Announcements: F3 SouthWake meeting on Tuesday, Bass Lake Park.

T-Claps (Recognition):

Prayer: Prayers up for men struggling in their marriages and relationships.

nacho

Wild Twerkey and Nacho Cheese

YHC showed up at the new Purple Cobra site at Jones Park to find Wild Turkey sitting off to the side revving his Jeep….lights pointed down to the area where we thought we might drop our cinderblocks off, but we decided on a different location. Abe had too showed up early to help scout a location for the coupons. Started running low on time before the main event. We ultimately decided to place the blocks behind the short wall on the right hand side of the playground right after the workout was over.

FNGs: None

Warm Up: SSH, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies, Seal Claps, Overhead Claps, Moroccan Night Clubs

The Workout:

PAX moseyed over to the short wall on the right hand side of the playground. We performed 2 rounds of the following exercises: Derkins, Irkins, Dips, Bulgarian Split Squats. Added Step-ups on the 2nd round on the short wall.

We then went over to the bathroom/facilities area and completed 3 rounds of people’s chair with BTTW, plank holds, and chilcutt planks in between each round of people’s chair.

Next we went over to the rock pile to grab medium-sized rocks. Bobby Boucher picked out one of the biggest rocks I’d ever seen at an AO. Each PAX rotated in between each exercise to make sure we each got a turn with the large rock. Lots of complaining from the PAX during this portion of the ME, some due to the rocks, and some due to Bobby Boucher letting out some extremely wet gas that was dubbed as “Nacho Cheese’ by the PAX. Abe soon chimed in on the smelly fun. The exercises consisted of chest press, overhead press, ruh-rohs, skullcrushers, goblet squats, wonderbras, and curls for the girls.

Finally we went over to the bleachers beside the ball field. We split up into two groups with one group climbing to the top of the bleachers and completing various exercises while the other group stayed at the bottom and did air squats until the first group returned. Exercises at the top consisted of squats, merkins, carolina dry docks, and some weird variation of squats that Wild Turkey was doing that looked like he was trying out for an adult film. We dubbed him as Wild Twerkey during this portion…there are some things that you just can’t unsee….we also mixed in a few different methods of going up and down the bleachers such as bear crawls and crawl bear.

Back to the flag for Mary.

Mary: Popcorn consisting of LBC, WW2, Xs and Os, low slow flutter, alphabet soup spelling out N-A-C-H-O-C-H-E-E-S-E-F-A-R-T-S, Homer to Marge including single leg, and some new exercise that Pumpkin Spice picked up from Peak City – don’t know what it was called but basically like boat canoe with heels up, tap hands on the ground while keeping feet up all the way to 100. That hurt!

Announcements: Town hall at Bass Lake on Feb 28 @7pm

T-Claps (Recognition): All PAX for coming out to support the AO location change. Thanks to guys who helped move the coupons from my truck to their new home at Jones Park. Many hands make light work.

Prayer: Hasselhoff’s great uncle dealing with some heart issues, Kosher’s MIL diagnosed with breast cancer, praise for Kosher’s half sister who was approved for a kidney transplant at UNC. This now puts her on the list so that when she does find a donor match, they can complete the surgery. Bobby Boucher interviewing for potential new job that came out of the blue.

Also a reminder from YHC based on Bobby Boucher’s situation and some personal things that have happened with me lately that some of the best things come from unexpected opportunities. Reminder that God is in control and it’s HIS timing, not yours! Put your trust in Him!

YHC took us out.

Farkle with Finkle and the Funky Bunch

Farkle 10000 - Fun Addictive Game! by Tan Zhi Hui

PAX: @K I T T Y L I T T R, @Gamecock, @Finkle, @Pumps, @Sprinkler, @Martini, @Warbucks

Warm-up: Good Mornings, Daisy Pickers, SSH, Frankenstein’s, and Inch Worms

Event 1:  Took a quick Mosey up to the middle school for a round of Bars, Bears, & Dan’s.  This was an oldy but a goody.  Divided into 2 groups.  Group 1 shimmied up the rails on the ramp leading up to the entrance of the school and crawl beared down the stairs and Group 2 was performing Dan Taylor’s.  Those are 1 lunge to 4 squats going all the way up to 10 lunges and 40 squats.

Event 2: Moseyed back down to the pavilion for a game of Farkle.  Most thought I was making crap up as we went but we did follow the rules for 1’s and 5’s.  They were added up to produce how many of a prescribed exercise by the PAX rolling the dice.  If they didn’t roll any 1’s or 5’s they had to take a penalty lap around the park and the next person took their turn.  Lots of fun was had and a little bit of confusion.

Mary: We carried on with another round of Farkle but only called ab exercises.

COT: @Gamecock’s father-in-law is going to have surgery in March and his sister is in the middle of a high-risk pregnancy, @Warbuck’s traveling this weekend, and @Ham’s family in Kenya dealing with civil unrest and area being bombed.

 

Ultimate Frisbee 5 vs 6

FNGs None

warmups:  ssh, Frankensteins, daisy pickers, OYO

great match-ups, lots of extra running on the pitch.  Mis-marked end zones – (I blame Gump not supervising me).  Surprisingly the team of five played pretty well considering they were out numbered and had an a old fat guy trying to keep up with the young guns.  Dropped passes resulted in burpees, merkins, monkey-humpers, star jumps, etc  TDs resulted in merkins, LBCs, SSHs, etc.

no injuries reported.  Hope to see more PAX under the lights after up-coming marathons

announcements:  Breach at the boathouse later this week – see slack for details

prayers:  positive marriage update with Wham-O & his M – (awesome!). Lean on the pax who have been married 20, 25, 30 yrs.  We have all had our ups and downs in our marriages. We may not know the answers but we can give a good listen and possibly share/learn from our experiences.

Thank you Breach for taking us out.
2nd F at Paneras.

 

honored to lead. – Dauber