A Fire Hose, 2 Snot Rockets, and an Anniversary

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What a great year! The great men of F3 have pushed me everyday to be a better version of myself. A year ago, like many fellas out there, I was dead in my tracks and had no sense of acceleration anywhere in my life. Then, Katniss made one choice to EH me into a workout and I made one choice to go. Never underestimate the power of 1 choice, 1 invitation, or 1 time of “showing up” and the influence it may have on another’s life.  40 lbs. lighter, ran a relay (BRR) in the middle of nowhere, stronger, faster, smarter, connected…and…I hate running much less! All things that a year ago seemed out of reach and the workouts we do seemed crazy. I literally “hung up my gloves” 5-6 years ago, lost my wolfpack and accountability, was beat down and injured, and without a physical pursuit. So I took the path of least resistance and settled for mediocrity. F3 has helped me take all of it back! Plus, I wear expensive running shoes now. Thanks men! The workout below incorporates many of the blurry elements of the first workout I posted at 1 year ago.

EC: YHC, Dahmer, Nemo, Katniss, Cupid, Shamwow!

FNGs:none
Warm Up: SSH x 30, 12 IC counts of Good Mornings, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies, Seal Claps, Overhead Claps, and Daisy Pickers.
The Workout: Group split in two. Group 1 does Indian run around the Underworld garage with fire hose wrap. Indian runner carries hose to front of line, pax exchanges until last man gets it. All pax in group carry the hose twice.  Other group performed series of BTTW, People’s Chair, and alternating single leg deadlifts.  Groups switched and repeated.  We all the Cusacked our kettlebell to the far end wall.  Pax did 20 Goblet Squat, 20 Merkins, and an all pax 20 count of People’s Chair.  This…was…challenging! YHC dispatched himself very quickly following this as group was held in suspense before see it was only YHC’s snot rocket fire 1! Back to work.  20 Goblet Squats, 20 merkins, 10 each single leg deadlifts, and an each pax 20 count of BTTW.  Many grunts and choice words during this time! Group recovered for YHC to fire snot rocket #2 away from the group to a few cheers.

Group moved over to the low wall for a series of Irkins, Dips, and Dirkins. Counts were 15 and then 10.  Back to the kettlebells for a series of OYO exercises for 20 counts. Exercises were: Swings, Figure 8, and Halos.  Pax were instructed to do bell merkins until the whole group was finished. Repeato except lower rep count to 15.

Next, 2 rounds of pax performing about a 20 yard bear crawl, doing 7 lawn mowers each side with kettlebell, lunge walk back, then hold BTTW until the six was in.  Cusack the bells back for Mary.
Mary: 10 counts of Midget Cookie Pouches, LSF with bell, and Pickle Pounders.  Also did plank hold with 25 IC Mountain Climbers.
Announcements: Work at HS Food Cupboard tomorrow. Check 3rd F Slack. Tetanus will bring us the next Ted Talk at end of October. Details and teasers will be on 3rd F Slack as well.
T-Claps (Recognition): All the pax who’ve pushed me and posted with me at workouts. Especially, my 3rd Watch ShieldLock brothers, my 12 man BRR Boxcars team, Deadbolt for Q ing the workout that got me hooked, and Katniss, for that EH that has highly impacted my life.
Prayer: Bondo’ granddaughter Piper is home! Prayers for F3 Grandstrand and a lost brother and police officer.  Katniss took us out.  Honor to lead. Here’s to the next year of getting faster, stronger, and probably crazier!

Not Enough Big Rocks

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….says Pikachu! Apparently Womble Park rock selection is dwindling down and beasts like Pikachu are at a loss for finding more challenging rocks. Maybe it’s time for a field trip to “import” some other rocks from Jones Park or The Greenway???

YHC hasn’t taken the Q at Thunder since the spring and it was a great night to be back out with these good fellas! YHC came up with somewhat of a plan running a solo 5 mile EC down to Bass Lake. Several other viscous cyclists also were in attendance afterward at Thunder. Impressive double-down.

FNGs: no sir.
Warm Up: SSH IC x 30, Daisy Pickers, Seal Claps, Overhead Claps, Imperial Walkers, Frankenstein’s, Hillbillies all IC x 11.
The Workout: Mosey to the bandstand for a series of group split exercises. One group held either BTTW or People’s Chair while other groups did exercises including: Irkins x 20/x15 and dirkins x15, and dips x25, x20, and x15.

To the rock pile. Small handheld rocks were the first order. Pax completed a series of shoulder Press, lateral raise, and front raises with the rocks. Counts were mixed but all moves had a 30,20,and 10 count. 60 total reps per move. On to the big rocks. Each pax selected a big rock and Cusacked over the The hill by the batting cages.

YHC called for 11’s with Ground Pounders IC at the bottom of the Hill and Wonderbras at the top. At some point, Lipsync threw his rock down the hill which gave YHC an idea! All PAX would “shot-out” their rock from the top of the hill. Whichever pax threw farthestvonly had 1 burpee. Each pax thereafter would add a burpee depending on Landon position. Lip sync had 1…YHC had 8.  We completed 11’s and mosey with rocks to a nice flat section near the rock pile. Pax completed: 50 chest Press, 10 merkins, 30 chest Press, 7 merkins, 20 chest Press, 5 merkins.
Mary: To the picnic shelter for 1 more round of 10 count per pax BTTW. Finished with 15 counts of WW1, LBC’s, Homer to Marge, and LSF. Completed 11 SSH at the flag.
Announcements: Help at HS Food Cupboard this Sat.  Details on 3rd F Slack.
T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer: Wallaby has a cousin with health and family issues. Aquaman and Bullseye trip to Chicago and relatives stuck in Mexico. YHC took us out on a great fall evening.

Womble 400s

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5 for some 400s and upper body work at Cletus Friday 10/2/2020.

FNGs: None

Warm Up: Mosey to rock pile for rock, then over to the concession stand at the baseball fields.

5 burpess (OYO), SSHs, merkins, windmills, daisy pickers, fazio arm circles forward > backwards > seal claps > arm circles forward > backward

The Workout:

Partner up.

Round 1: Partner 1 (400 m lap around one side of the baseball fields); Partner 2 Curls for the Girls until partner returns. Swap.

Round 2: Partner 1 (400 m lap around one side of the baseball fields); Partner 2 tri ceps until partner returns. Swap.

Round 3: Partner 1 (400 m lap around one side of the baseball fields); Partner 2 overhead press until partner returns. Swap.

Round 4: Partner 1 (400 m lap around one side of the baseball fields); Partner 2 chest press until partner returns. Swap.

Mary: No time.
Announcements:
T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer:

Disney Tempo Stuff

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I was excited to see the challenge presented by Sham Wow to mix things up at Disney in OCT with a little Q competition. Some of our AOs have seen a decline in attendance as we have grown as a region and I think it’s great to encourage guys to change things up from time to time. That said, every AO is important, every day, no matter the numbers, no matter if it’s the best epic beatdown of all time. Even if it’s a PAX of 1 (this has happened several times the past few months and I have had it happen as a site Q myself). Guys are out there for a reason so let’s keep supporting in the spirit of Freed to Lead (if you haven’t read the book you need to). If you’re like me, one of those F3 fringe guys, you never know what you’re gonna get when you roll into the parking lot.

I love me some Disney. It seems to always live up to the old billing as the greatest place on earth and I was happy to take the Q. So happy, I broke out my old Mickey Mouse shirt for an added laugh from the PAX. I have been struggling to make EC on time, often pulling into the lot around 0507 only to have to play chase if there are others out there, so this morning I made an extra push to get there on time and was greeted by ShamWow who had already finished a mile but came back to pick me up. I appreciate his confidence in me making it on time and the accountability along the run.

We returned to a small but strong crew who appeared ready to put in the work and hoping it lived up to my short pre-blast. I told everyone we would be on the move and doing a lot of stuff in tempo. I like changing it up a bit and introducing tempo stuff to help with focus on form and quality over quantity. Some might say it does not lend to an epic beatdown, but I always find it to be effective and rewarding.

FNGs: nope
Warm Up: jog around the lot then some regular stuff including Goof Balls, originally introduced at Disney early in my time as Site Q.
The Workout: Headed out on the mosey to tackle what would be 4 stops along the way. Hit the bottom of the hill behind the field and I announced if anyone wanted to “take the hill” they would have to return on their own later – not in the mix today. Stopped off the side of the road and did  sets of SSH ICx50 and Plank Jacks ICx10 – did anyone think a Nemo Q at Disney would not include at least 100 SSH? Back on the mosey up the road and stopped at some of the posts. Did 3 sets of deep tempo squats ICx10 and tempo merkins ICx10. Back on the mosey down to the side lot but found the benches broken so kept going and used the benches behind the back door for 4 sets of tempo dips ICx10 and plank hold-shoulder taps-plank hold. Mosey to stairs behind school for 5 sets of tempo merkins ICx10 at the bottom and BTTW ICx10 at the top. Mosey back to flag for Mary. 2 miles total on the mosey and there was very little recovery – really did not stop moving/working the entire time.
Mary: Quick round of some core stuff
Announcements: Sign up to help out at HSFC this Saturday details on slack or reach out to Dumbo, Fanny Pack on the Anniversary Q at Crazy Ivan, Hardy competing at Ninja competition tomorrow
T-Claps (Recognition): Fanny Pack for Thunder/Disney double down and 1-year anniversary, ShamWow taking the early start to EC and getting a mile in before picking me up at 0505
Prayer: Praise and prayer for Bondo’s family and his granddaughter leaving the hospital – amen! Prayers for FloJo for his continued working down in Wilmington area, for his wife seeking additional employment as a PA and for our F3 brother Hardy who has another Ninja competition tomorrow, and prayers for the family/friends/F brothers of fallen F3 brother who lost his life serving in the line of duty. YHC took us out after a silent 10 count for unspoken.

Pikachu-Friendly

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PAX: Bondo, Oboe, Hardy, Pikachu, Snap

FNGs: None

Got a Slack message from Pikachu the night before to help guide the workout.  He’s recovering from a leg injury and wanted to find an AO where he wasn’t going to have to run a lot so I planned to keep running to a minimum.  We may not have run much but the legs certainly got a workout!

Warm Up: Mosey to the parking lot for some SSHs, windmills, good mornings, daisy pickers, Fazio arm circles, and mountain climbers.
The Workout:

Grabbed a rock and did some triceps extensions and curls for the girls on the way to the playground.

We did sets of ladders in 5 – 10  – 20 – 10 – 5 rep sequences.  First set included pullups, goblet squats, overhead presses, and side lunges with the rock.

Then we continued to impress the girls with curls and extensions over to the pavilion where we did another set of of ladders with merkins, step ups, rut rows, and front lunges with the rock.

Last set of ladders included ground pounders and bus drivers.

Even though we were exhausted by then, we couldn’t help but keep trying to impress the girls with more curls and extensions on our way back to drop off the rock.

Mary:  LBCs, side LBCs, and Freddy Mercuries
Announcements: Food Cupboard this weekend (as long as it’s not raining)
Prayer: Prayers for Bondo’s granddaughter who is home from the NICU after being born 11 weeks early

We run all the hills

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This morning we took a different approach to speed work by moving the workout away from the track. Introduced or reintroduced the Pax to the fartlek (Swedish for Speed Play). Todays location would be through Sunset Ridge. Those unfamiliar with Sunset Ridge quickly learned that there are some hidden gems of hills tucked away in the loops of the neighborhood.

FNGs: None
Warm Up: A little mosey up the police station. Turned back and headed toward Linksland adding in some A & B skips. Picked up the tempo just as we reached the middle school.
The Workout: Mosey throughout Sunset Ridge varying the pace between 1/2 marathon, 10k, 5k and recovery. Added a few quicker shorter sprints at the end and finished withed a progression. Sometimes we pushed the pace up the hill, sometime we pushed the pace down the hill. Sometime the distance was short and sometimes it was a bit longer. The longest segment we ran was about 1/2 mile, most coming in around 1/4 mile.
Mary: We got good stretching in this morning.
Announcements: 3rdF opportunity this weekend at the Food Cupboard. VQ at Paradise City on Monday
T-Claps (Recognition): We only ran about 5 miles but it feels way different when the the pace goes way up and way down. Nice work everyone
Prayer: UTI took us out.

 

+ of course there was one mosey into the woods

Running for the TP

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FNGs: none
Warm Up: Good mornings, windmills, SSH, IW
The Workout: 10 PAX out for some miles this morning in the gloom.  Q had plans for a new route, a slight variation and a little Wednesday spice – as if spice is needed for AO that already gets the bowels moving naturally.   Just a hair under 5.5 miles for most, nice work men!
Mary: About 5 minutes of stretching to loosen up the hips – according to Skidmark
Announcements: Reach out to Dumbo to help volunteer at the HS food pantry this Saturday
Prayers: Hightower from F3 Grand Strand in Myrtle Beach, prayers for his family and PAX.  Prayers for CrabLegs and ongoing treatments.

Goodbye Fart Sack – Hello Q Spot

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FNGs: No.

Warm Up: Yes.

  • Mozy out in front of Globo Gym aka Planet Fitness
  • Good Mornings
  • Windmills
  • Imperial Walkers
  • Hillbillies
  • SSH
  • Mozy to the bottom of “the same hill you ran last week”™
  • Sprint up to the top of “the same hill you ran last week”™
  • Mozy to the rocks

The Workout: 3 Socially Distanced Pain Stations / 1 Runner

  • 3 PAX hold down pain stations with continous 10 counts while “The Runner” completes a lap and tags a pain station.  “The Runner” takes the tagged station.   The new “Runner” makes a loop and tags the next pain station.
    • The Rocks @ the Teeter – Dealers Choice 10 Counts, just keep moving
    • The Rail @ Jiffy – 10 Counts, Erkins, Derkins, Dips
    • The Wall @ GCF – 10 Counts, People’s Chair / Balls2Walls / WW2s / LBCs
  • YHC called an audible after a few rotations and brought the pain stations together…  It was lonely and why not 2nd F a little to pass the time.
  • Closed it down
  • Mozy to the bottom of “the same hill you ran last week”™
  • Sprint up to the top of “the same hill you ran last week”™
  • Mozy to Mary

Mary: Homer 2 Marge, 6 inch leg lifts, Pickle Pounders

Announcements:

  • Assistance requested this weekend at The Food Cupboard – Check the 3rd F channel and check out Dumbo for details.
  • YHC just got back out into the gloom officially.  Purple Cobras needs some love.  Q Sheet is pretty lonely.

T-Claps (Recognition):  Cupid for holding this site down during the dry times.

Prayer:

  • Officer down in Grand Strand, Hightower – prayers for family, friends, and PAX
  • Covid-19, Government Leaders, all of those impacted to-date

No music, Tabata ended early, When does Dawgpound come home?

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FNGs: None

EC: Emeril, Dahmer

Warm Up: Short jog, SSH, Imperial Walker, Fazio Arm Circles, Spinal Rotations

The Workout:

5 Drills
40 Seconds On/20 Seconds off – circuit

Counter Squat (halfway through rotate hands)
Level 1) Normal squat with curl
Level 2) Squat and then push bar out (bar is sideways not up and down)

Deadlift to Row (halfway through rotate hands) Chest proud
Level 1) Bend over and do row hands at each end of bar. Row and then stand up
Level 2) Bend over and do row ball hand in middle. Row and then stand up
Level 3) Back ankle up (Staggered stance) Ball is on side where ankle is up

Paddle Swing:
Level 1) Paddle by side with back lunge
Level 2) Lunge back paddle up in air

Ballistic Curl
Level 1) Normal curl mace horizontal
Level 2) Tilt bar down
Level 3) Rotate bar straight up and hold before moving into level 2 finish

Sumo Squat Counter Balance(halfway through rotate hands):
Level 1) Normal Sumo Squat
2) Sumo Squat push bar out front

Mary: Stretching

Announcements: Still need PAX for Saturday 10/10 at Food Bank.  May rain and if it does we will reschedule.

T-Claps (Recognition): Dawgpound because he runs Captain Caveman with music and knows how to properly set up the Tabata so it doesn’t end after 7 minutes.

Prayer: Hightower the police office killed in the line of duty in Myrtle

Prison Yard 10/6/20

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4 Inmates got some outside yard time for being on good behavior.

Sprinkler, Fonzie, Led, and Warden Breach

Warm Up: A quick mosy around the lower parking lot followed by 22 counts of SSH, Windmills, Daisey Pickers, and Imperial Walkers

The Workout:

100 Weighted squats

90 Up and over hops

80 Plank Ski Jumps

70 Side Crunches

60 Merkins

50 Weighted Lunges

45 Rut Rohs

40 Skater Hops

35 Close Grips Chest presses

30 Freddie Mercuries

25 Box Jumps

20 Curls for the Girls

15 Inchworm Burpees

10 Bears (Burpee with renegade rows before you hops back up)

Announcements: Mamas Ruck at Hilltop before the end of Oct

Tues Oct 13th Hygiene Ruck for the Holly Springs PD, details to follow on Slack

Closed in Prayer: