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Thanksgiving Convergence

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With Thanksgiving feasts on the horizon, 32 PAX wanted to make sure to start the day with a caloric deficit so they wouldn’t feel so bad about blowing it out of the water later in the day (or at least that’s how YHC felt).  With an hour long workout ahead of us and three mystery Q’s no one was quite sure what to expect.

FNGs: Welcome Captain Planet!

The Workout:

Pikachu started off the morning’s activities by announcing the first mystery Q, everyone’s favorite reason to have it burn when you pee, U.T.I.:

When did Thanksgiving become the holiday that just wouldn’t end!?  I thought I had made this amazing/awesome feast for everyone at R4TJ.  I just got this whole mess cleaned up. I knew there was some mumblechatter about the day of Thanksgiving.  Cletus 3x in 3 days, 3Qs at Tiger Blood or even flag football. It’s my fault, I shouldn’t have said anything…  I overheard the conversation and said “3 strikes is a Turkey in bowling” Apparently that was enough to ask me to set the table once again.  I do make a mean Turkey… but this is different… A CONVERGENCE!?!? I mean that could be HUGE – It’s the whole freaking extended family! At R4TJs Turkey Day, Chris (you remember – that guy that moves like lightning) assured me that there would be 2 other cooks in the kitchen but there was a catch…  He wouldn’t tell me who. I mean Emeril would be a big help but… you know… celebrity chef and all… Would he even show? I know he has a new gig something called “I’m On It!” – must be one of those Chef saves the day in a crappy restaurant reality things… I guess I would have to wait and find out.

I arrived promptly at start time.  There was talk of appetizers (about 3 miles of food was offered, just something light to get started but a bit more than typical) – I was planning on saving some room for dessert so I just showed up for the main course.  As you can imagine, it’s the holidays and with everything mostly shutdown there aren’t many options to get your fill. I counted 20 heads when I got there and more were filtering in from their appetizers. Final count was 32 as we gathered for the meal.

I was up first, the other 2 chefs were still unknown – probably still cooking up their best offerings.  I had prepared, had an idea, wanted to play on the bowling concept that got me into this mess in the first place.  Who am I kidding, bowling alley food for Thanksgiving!? Scrapped that and realized that I was the first course. I had to ease them into it.  It was a simple and recognizable offering, didn’t want to upset the pallet. Here is the recipe in case you liked it. Just keep in mind, as my friend Alan pointed out, you’ve got to let these ingredients rest a bit before you add the next one.  Otherwise your guests get a little cranky about the results…

  • 10 Burpees OYO – I didn’t plan to use this ingredient but Jaron (comic book character complex) and Florence insisted.
  • 30 SSH
  • 30 Frankensteins – I need to work on these, timing was a little off and Cousin BJ made sure I knew…
  • 30 Windmills
  • 30 LBCs

Big crew for dinner – I thought it would be best to split everyone up into 3 groups and seat them together.  Just more manageable – We split up in the front and made our way to where the first course would be served. There were Indians (aka native Americans) at the first Thanksgiving.  Theming the party is always fun and engaging your guests can really make the day memorable for everyone.

  • Indian Runs with 10 guests run to their table.

The main course was kind of a build your own.  Some basic ingredients were provided but guests were asked to push themselves and create a dish to remember.

  • 10 guests at each table, each group at a different end of the large oval-shaped venue
  • 1 to 5 social guests got to run the perimeter of the Oval as fast as they could, greeting the 20 that they weren’t seated with along the way.
  • The leftovers at the table got to focus on an ingredient of their choice while their friends were away being social.
    • My table did some American Hammers, Low Slow Flutters, Pickle Pounders, and I went out for some social time so I’m sure I missed something on the list.  Great work at the table – very delectable stuff.
    • There was a friendly new guy at our table too.  Talked a bunch! Glad to have that kind of energy at the celebration.

I know I started out griping about being asked to make another meal on short order but sometimes I think I just like to complain.  It’s always a pleasure to serve the family. Just as I was starting to really enjoy hosting, the 2nd Chef was tapping his tall glass of water (dude really enjoys some high quality H20) for everyone’s attention.  It was time for me to handover the apron.

Aquaman:

QIC Aquaman circled up the PAX and never let them go.  Today’s exercises were brought to you by the letters A, B, and S.  YHC can’t remember the exact specifics of everything we did but we started with protractors with the Q calling out the angle while PAX took turns calling out a 10-count all the way around the circle.  Rinse and repeat with LSF and then again while holding various plank positions (regular, chill cut, right arm up, etc.).  At Potts’ request we ended with Boat/Canoes with variations mixed in as well.  I’m sure I missed stuff but just know that everything was ab focused and there was a lot of mumble chatter regarding it.

Our third and final Q was none other than YHC himself, 16-bit:

Having received a text from Pikachu Wednesday morning about Qing the last 20 minutes of the workout didn’t leave YHC much time to plan.  I didn’t know how many people to expect but I did expect a fairly large group.  And I got that group.  I spent the night scouring the official exicon for new exercises that would accommodate a large group, took notes, allowed room for modification, and was satisfied.

Not yet breaking the previous Q’s circle the group started with Crowd Pleasers.  These consisted of an x:x ratio of merkins and groiners.  We started with 1:1 and worked our way up to 5:5 and then back down to 1:1.  These seemed to live up to their name and I look forward to incorporating them in to more workouts.

After this we moseyed around to the other side of the parking lot to make use of the curbs.  Admittedly things got a little messy here because the curbs weren’t equal and there was some confusion but I think, overall, it went well.  We started with inch worms.  Feet against the curb in full plank position PAX slowing inched their hands forward until they couldn’t reach any further and then inched their feet up until they were back in full plank postion.  Continue this until the other curb and then work back towards the other curb.

Next up was modified ascending curb crawls where we started with our feet on the curb and performed a derkin, bear crawled to the other curb and did another derkin. Bear crawl back to the originating curb to do 2 derkins, etc.  We did this until we did 3 and 3 because they sucked and it was hard.

The last exercise at the curbs were broken wheelbarrows.  PAX partnered up and wheelbarrowed from one curb to the other.  The broken part of it was that the partner holding the legs only held one leg.  Partners switched after they crossed the parking lot.  Each partner took two trips.  These also sucked.

Mosey back to the original circle location for our last exercise.  Someone thought it was time for Mary, but not quite yet.  The last exercise YHC had planned was a Circle Burp.  Per the exicon, everyone in the circle started chopping their feet while PAX around the circle called to do a burpee.  As fun as this sounded I don’t think anyone wanted to do 32 burpees so YHC modified and just called out when to do a burpee.  I don’t know how many we did but it wasn’t too many.  However, had I known I was going to get so much Jane Fonda related hate during Mary I might have just had us do burpees until time was out.

Mary:

Staying in our circle we started with Coolers.  These start as a side plank on your forearm and done IC.  On one we lifted our top leg up towards the sky, two brought it back down, three brought our top leg’s knee to our chest, and four took it back down.  10 each side.  Bring on all the Jane Fonda references.

Afterwards we went on to sleeping hillbillies and American Hammers.  I might have done more but honestly can’t find my notes or remember.  We ended with Happy Thanksgiving, aka Have a Nice Day.

Announcements:

Christmas party on the 14th, Frosty CSAUP on the 9th.

T-Claps (Recognition):

Aquaman and U.T.I.  for helping bring the pain in their own ways this morning.  I know, for myself, it was challenging planning a workout not knowing who else was Qing and what they were planning but it all came together nicely.  These guys did an outstanding job in helping everyone clear some waist line space for the impending feasts, especially Aquaman with all his gut busting ab exercises.

Prayer:

Our brother Wallaby is going through hard times right now, struggling with substance abuse.  He and his family could use our support so if you are able to help in any way I’m sure the family would appreciate it.  Hardy has the flu which is no fun ever but especially during a holiday.  Continued prayers as well for Quiver and his family.

 

I know I speak for my fellow Qs when I say that being chosen to have the opportunity to lead this workout was an immense honor.  I’m thankful for all of you on this day where we reflect on the blessings in our lives.  I count each and every one of you among them.

010000

Best L-E-F-T-O-V-E-R-S Ever!

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EC: Cupid, Katniss, Mookie, Pikachu, ShamWow, YHC.

Lots of anticipation in this workout: Who will take Yogurt’s place as site Q? Will Yogurt be able to stop cadence? Will there be dessert with these leftovers?

Warm Up: Long way to back of Hunt Center. SSH 50x. Started off LEFTOVERS with a round of Wings: Arm circles forward and back, hold ‘em; seal claps, hold ‘em; overhead claps, hold ‘em. OK, so I always forget to stop, so lots of laughs with the various counts. I think I nailed a few at 15!

The Workout:

L-E-F-T-O-V-E-R-S

L Lt. Dan ain’t got no legs. Squat plus lunge with each leg 10x x 2

E Everest over to the wooden steps. Lunge up two steps, full squat. Rinse and repeat

F Forest to Sea. You remember this one from CSAUP 2018. Bear crawl to middle of field, crab walk to end. Run back

T Tony Hawk Burpee. Burpee with 360 spin jump to finish. I think we were all stumbling to this one 10x, rinse and repeat other direction, just like Tony

O Outlaw. Recover on this one. Same as Boxcutter, but feet together. 10x clockwise, 10x counterclockwise

V Vacuum. Wheelbarrow out 10 steps, 5 derkins, backward wheelbarrow back to line. Rinse and repeat

E Empty wheelbarrow. Crab walk with partner holding legs. Up, back, switch, rinse, repeat

R Ranger Merkins together 20x, good form

S Surfer Merkin. What? Merkin with horizonal rolling 360 between. Yes, we got dirty!

Dessert: Needed more S, so we moseyed up to road behind Hunt Center for some SPRINTS!

Sprints to next light pole. Split PAX into two waves. Rinse and repeat 3x.

Mary: 6 minutes: Standard starting position 6 inch hold. Low slow flutter, box cutters, pickle pounders, more Out;aws, end with 1 minute 6-inch hold.

Announcements:

Time to turn my site Q over to PAX who is ready. When I offered Cletus to this PAX, he jumped on it, ready to lead. This PAX joined F3 in March 2019. Initial U-Turn runs were 10 min max pace over 3 miles. In the spring, remember him telling me he had a hard time getting over the fatigue at the 2-mile mark. Man, has he come a long way! Trained like crazy for HSHM and had a great finishing time. He’s grateful for all the supportive PAX along the way!

I’m proud to pass the turkey leg to Katniss!

Prayers: Our F3 brother struggling with addiction. Hardy (Florence’s son) has the flu, possibly spreading through family. Job (friend of Pikachu). Other spoken and unspoken.

With winter time coming up, keep eye out for PAX falling off workouts for whatever reason. Keep everyone engaged!

 

Thankful

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FNGs:none
Warm Up:Good mornings, arm stretches, fazio arm circles, ssh
The Workout:

T – The Wolverine 10 count

H- Howling monkeys atom the circle and 10 count at end

A- Aiken legs 20 jump squats, 20 lunges IC, 15 smurf jacks

N- no surrender 20 IC

K- king of hearts suicides. 3 sets

S- Stirkins stepuos and irkin

G- 20 Groiners

I- indian run to tennis court with last man doing 3 merkins

V- vacuum cleaners with 3 sermons at two locations

I- iron Hulk 1:4 ratio to 7

N- never cross dolly

G – growing pains

G- good day

Mary:none
Announcements: convergence tomorrow at 6:00am tiger blood, csaup dec 7th, Christmas party Dec 14th.  Leadership changes starting Jan 1st
T-Claps (Recognition): to the pax who came out and brought canned goods for Mamas House of Thrift.  Picture to follow but we’ll over 300 items.
Prayer:Quivers family, Hardy and sickness, Wallaby

I didn’t lie…this time.

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YHC wasn’t expecting much of a turnout with I got 5 onnit starting next door, but was pleasantly surprised to see 8 HIM at Downtown Train for some rock and ab work. YHC was happy to see Master Shake out for some Monday morning fun at Downtown Train.

EC: YHC flaked on the EC, but Nemo, Dovetail, and Pilgrim got after it.

FNGs:  None (Still haven’t had an FNG show up at one of my Qs.)

Warm Up: Standard Lap; 10 burpees OYO, SSH x 50 in cadence, Merkins x 20, fazio arm circles (forward x 25, backwards x 25 in cadence), seal claps x 25 in candence, overhead claps x 25 in cadence, Michael Phelps

The Workout: Grabbed rock and headed to library parking lot for the following rounds (all in cadence).

Round 1: Curls for the gurls x 25, Tricep extensions x 25, curls for the gurls x 20, tricep extensions x 20, curls for the gurls x 15, tricep extensions x 15

50 LBCs in cadence

Round 2: Shoulder press x 25, bus drivers x 25, shoulder press x 20, bus drivers x 20, shoulder press x 15, bus drivers x 15

50 Freddie Mercury’s in cadence

Round 3: Chest press x 25, skull crushers x 25, chest press x 20, skull crushers x 20, chest press x 15, skull crushers x 15

50 LBCs in cadence

Round 4: Squats x 25, sumo squats x 25, squats x 20, sumo squats x 20, squats x 15, sumo squats x 15

50 SSH in cadence

Mary: 10 burpees OYO

Announcements: Frosty Dec 7, Christmas Party Dec 14

T-Claps (Recognition):

Prayer: All PAX and their families traveling this week.

Six For Sevens

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Rolled into the Downtown Train lot at 5:03 am with Coal Ash ready for EC. Nemo arrived a minute later. Flag planted, we took off to Womble, around the soccer fields, and back. Two miles.

Six PAX for Main Event: Breach, Coal Ash, Nemo, Fanny Pack, Pumpkin Spice, YHC

Warm Up: SSH 25x, Good Mornings 16x. Near Bat Wings: Arm circles 16x front 16x back, Hold ’em out, Seal claps 16x, Hold ’em out, OH claps 16x. Between reps, we took turns counting to 10. During warmups, a car sped up Ballentine and I was looking forward to the mandatory burpees for all. The car turned into the lot, a guy hops out, and he goes into the church. Oh well. We did five burpees anyway.

The Workout: Sevens: I was eager to use Holly Springs’ first and only parking deck, but had not yet scoped it out. As we entered, I was impressed at how bright and clean it was. First thing I thought of was, can we play winter-time flag football or ultimate in here?

Perfect venue for some Sevens. We lined up and did Star Jumps on the far end and Merkins on the near end. It was so much fun, we did another round with Derkins on the far end and Dips on the near end. Nearly nailed the count on everything, but Breach had to remind me at least once.

Mosey to small rock pile. Time for some arm work. All 16 counts because I thought the date was the 16th, turns out it was the 18th. Straight lifts, tricep extensions, curls, hold rock behind back. Now my favorite–the bus driver, which seems to be the most innocuous exercise–looks easy, but it’s not. We did 16 counts of multiple arm workouts, plus some squats.
Mary: Pickle pounders, WWIIs, boat.
Announcements: Slack, FB
T-Claps (Recognition): Really nice work by all today. Good to see Pumpkin Spice.
Prayer: Coal Ash’s family following his grandfather’s passing. Others spoken and unspoken.

Not Shoulder Friendly

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YHC arrived not sure what to expect in terms of numbers for this morning’s workout. Lots of guys tapering for HSHM, runners coming out of Richmond, and recovering from Ruck. YHC did a lone EC run for 2 miles. Weather wasn’t optimal either. No mumble chatter on Slack or FB about the workout. However, 14 Pax fought the fartsack and won, became stronger, and learned about the F3 mission and core principals.

EC: Skidmark

FNGs: None
Warm Up: 1 lap around the soccer field. Circle up on the tennis courts for SSH, Good Mornings, Imperial Walkers, Hillbillies, and Fazio Arm Circles.
The Workout: Mosey to the pavillion for some plank shuffle to the left up and down the picnic tables for one loop. Then Reverse.

Mosey to the Rock Pile. 11’s in the parking lot with Ground Pounders and Burpees. Carry the rock on the run. Intermittent switching of rocks as well

Mosey back to the Pavillion for two sets of split squats.

Mary: 1o minutes in plank hold with some exercises including merkins, 1 arm up, pickle pounders, and peter parkers. YHC also reviewed the core principals and F3 mission while in plank.

Announcements: CSAUP Dec 7, Christmas Party Dec 14. HSHM this weekend. Get out and run in the 6 up the ramp.

T-Claps (Recognition): Nice to see Moby out this morning

Prayer: Quiver and his family. Be better leaders in the community.

The Classic U

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FNGs: Nope
Warm Up: SSH, Frankenstein, Imperial Walkers, Let’s go.
The Workout: The Classic U-Turn, 3 and 5 Miles were had.  I think I am missing one PAX….Speak up!!
Mary: Nope
Announcements: Frosty – SIGNUP
T-Claps (Recognition):
Prayer: YHC took us out

Yoga in the Rain

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FNGs: none
Warm Up: Jogged around the soccer fields and back to the small tennis court. Circled up for SSH, Windmills, Imperial Walkers and Fozio Arm Circles
The Workout: YHC planned to use one of the picnic shelter areas, but others had already claimed the spots. Can’t blame them. Indian-run over to the amphitheater for the thang. Yoga strength was today’s theme.

The routine was a bit unstructured, but it went generally like this:
stretch to the sky, stretch to the ground, into downward dog and then plank
yoga plank murkins (hold 5 count on low position, back up) then back to standing.
Burpees OYO
Back down to Downward Dog and Downward Dog pushups (almost like Catalina Wine Mixers in Downward Dog pose, but both arms move simultaneously).
Burpees OYO
People’s chair, sans wall. Boat pose (American hammers, without the hammers). Back up to standing stretch. Back down for People’s chair and boat pose again.
Burpees OYO
YHC realized that he was running out of exercises, so we added on some balls-to-the-wall / proper people’s chair, two rounds. Indian-run back to the big tennis court for Mary.
Mary: Popcorn Mary. Props to Hardy for pushing us through 50(!) low-slow-flutters.
Announcements: Frosty CSAUP (Dec 7), Christmas Party (Dec 14)
T-Claps (Recognition): everyone getting out in this gloomy weather
Prayer: Oboe’s father-in-law, Noah’s Ark’s wife, Quiver’s daughter

A Rush to 45

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I proudly was site Q for Disney for more than a year “back in the day”.  It was a valued part of my F3 experience. No better way to start my 45th year with a trip back to pick up the Q.  It was cold.  Rolled up for EC with a group of me plus 4 guys I am proud to say I have covered a lot of miles with. Went back to one of my favorites from the F3 exercise list, The Red Barchetta, a workout in honor of the classic Canadian rock song by Rush.  Done this twice before and shared the story, so today we just stuck to minimal chatter and put in the work.  It was a great group of 13 PAX.

FNGs: Are there any left in South Wake?  Seems like a long time since I have seen a new name.
Warm Up: We did.  We had “The Dark Side of the Moon” lined up around half the circle.  I missed the memo about wearing all black.  Standard loop around the soccer fields, then some classic w/u exercises in the lot including one that I famously introduced at Disney a couple years ago, the Goof Ball, and a few SSH because if you have ever been to a Nemo Q you know they will make an appearance.
The Workout: Out on the field we took a spot on the line.  100 yard run across field, plank hold for the six, then SSH ICx100, recover on the jog back. 75 yard run, plank hold, Mountain Climbers ICx75, recover on jog back.  50 yard run, plank hold for six, LBCs ICx50, recover on jog back.  25 yard run, plank hold for six, tempo merkins ICx25, recover on jog back. 10 yard run, plank hold, burpees x10, recover on jog back. This is a different type of workout as the focus is on heartrate and I make sure to include the total cadence so we know, for example, we are about to do 100 SSH.  We wrapped up with another lap around the soccer fields and then hit the wall on the bath house (many other options for what I could call it were provided) and we did alternating sets BTTW and star jumps.  10 count, 15, 20 and the group was looking strong so went to 25.
Mary: A couple quick sets Homer to Marge, 6 hold, low slow flutter, 6 hold, pickle pounders, LBCs.  Closed with LBC ICx45
Announcements: After name-o I counted to our six PAX and Tetanus talked about how he came out to F3 (thanks UTI for another Woodcreeker) how he got his name and what he has been getting out of F3.   Slack has you covered, Pinehurst convergence, new kettlebell AO
T-Claps (Recognition): Deadbolt, was great to see you out there this morning – you introduced me to F3 and you passed the torch at Disney to me when I became site Q.  Everyone for posting this morning in the cold, you are all difference makers.  Also, just thankful for the opportunity to see so many of us setting stretch goals and then getting to appreciate the reward – no matter what the finish line is.  Maybe it’s a full marathon, or maybe it’s just focusing on taking small steps to improve the important relationships in our lives.
Prayer: Racers/ruckers this weekend, those dealing with injury.  Took a silent 10 count for any unspoken and YHC took us out.

Thank God Deer Don’t Eat Meat

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Six 6 Pax for a solid start to the week at Downtown Train.

FNGs: None

EC: Coal Ash, Nemo

Warm Up: Field trip over to Womble. Circled up for 10 burpees OYO, daisy pickers, merkins, good mornings, SSHs

The Workout: Mosey’d over to picnic tables for the following rounds of exercises…

Round 1: Step-ups x 10, SSH x 20, Step-ups x 20, SSH x 40, Step-ups x 30, SSH x 60, LBCs x 50 in cadence

Round 2: irkins x 5, squats x 10, irkins x 10, squats x 20, irkins x 15, squats x 30, irkins x 20, squats x 40, LBCs x 40 in cadence

Round 3: dips x 5, lunges x 10, dips x 10, lunges x 20, dips x 15, lunges x 30, dips x 20, LBCs x 30 in cadence

Round 4: 2 x Peoples chair (10 count each Pax), balls to the wall (10 count each Pax)

Indian run back to home base

Mary: LBCs x 50 in cadence

Announcements: Dec 7 Frosty, Christmas Party,

T-Claps (Recognition):

Prayer: Warbucks family, Coal Ash’s grandfather, those who are serving/have served in military