ALL IC: SSH x20, Imperial Walkers x20, American Hammers (4ct) x20, Merkins x15, Mountain Climbers (4ct) x15, Squats x15, Flutter-kicks (4ct) x 20, LBCs (4ct) x20,
Burpees OYO x10
THA-THANG:
Battle-Buddy up for some Partner Sets. Partner 1 does 10 reps while other holds position; switch and repeat until 100 reps is reached:
Merkins (or plank)
Squats (or Al Gore)
Flutter-Kicks (4ct) (or 6inch)
Shoulder Taps (or plank)
Jump Squats (or free throw position)
LBCs (or knees to chest)
Burpees (or stand and catch breath) – for this last one we did sets of 5 until 50 total reps completed.
Mosey to Large Student Parking Lot and rotate between bear crawl and lunges (switching at each parking lane), making our way across the lot (total distance around 120 yards).
MARY:
100 yard mosey repeats with dealer’s choice exercises at each end. For practice, Q had three men who had not Q’d yet call the exercises the proper F3 way: Slappy, Nadia and Curveball all did great and are ready to Q!
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
24 Strong CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
Fitness is the first “F” for a reason. Every day you make that decision to get out of bed, you swallow a pill that most men won’t – the Daily Red Pill (DRP). The DRP is the first of many bricks you lay that will solidify and start a process that steam rolls into having an effective day as a dad, a boss, a neighbor, whatever. You cannot effectively lead unless you get your body right first. We come out here and suffer together to get fit. Once our bodies are right, we can then effectively lead in our daily circles.
There is an old saying in F3: “You can’t out-king your queen.” With The game of Chess as a comparison, the King represents your fitness, the Queen your diet. We all know that in chess while both are important, the Queen is the most valuable player on the board. You lose your Queen and it’s not long until the game is over. Similarly, you will never be able to out-exercise a bad diet. If you are really serious about becoming a better leader, the First F requires dietary discipline. Find what works for you. For me, it’s Calories in v. Calories out. I track my food intake and you should too. It can be a real eye-opener for those that never have. You can’t out-King your Queen! ISI!
THE SCENE: Dark and gloomy, high chance of smoke F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER WARM-O-RAMA:
S.S.H. x 10 IC; Cherry Picker x 5 IC; OHC x 10 IC
THA-THANG:
Mosey to the “new” parking lot, brief stations in the first corner, split into 4 groups of 3 for the main event. 4 corners of the lot, each has 2 exercises x20 reps to complete. After completing corner reps, run 3/4 of a lap to next station, moving as a group. AMRAP. Each group completed at least 2 full 4-corner laps.
Corner 1: diamond walk ; 10kg bushwhacker (lunge while swinging a 10kg kettle bell in front of the face)
Corner 2: burpees ; smurf jacks
Corner 3: CMU pullovers ; CMU BBS
Corner 4: broad jumps ; 4ct American Hammers
Mosey back to AO
MARY:
Roughly 2 minutes remained upon arrival back to AO, just enough time for 50 Overhead claps, in cadence. Judging by the grumbling, this was the correct recipe. CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
This was a tough one men. I knew walking in that I would struggle to hold it together, and almost didn’t make it through the first paragraph of the poem. My grandfather cut a poem out of a newspaper sometime in the 1940’s or early 50’s, titled “Thoroughbred Man” that he gave to my dad circa 1953. My dad carried it in his wallet for 50+ years, to the point that he had to laminate it with a new typed copy just to preserve it. He passed it on to me in 2002 before my first trip into a warzone. Years later, I had it emblazoned on a plaque for him to put up on his wall. He passed away in January 2015 after struggling through dementia and alzheimers’ for several years. That was the longest day of my life, standing watch at his bedside for 20 hours, praying and talking to him. I had siblings rushing in from as far away as Colorado. About an hour after the last of us got to spend some 1 on 1 time with him, we all held him as he breathed his last, then his stubborn heart (if you knew him, you’d understand) went on for another 5 minutes. I didn’t have the composure to share all of this in the BOM, so here it is. I prayed for him. I wanted more time with him, but I also knew that it would only prolong his suffering. I prayed for God to take him. After I took the plaque down off his wall, it stayed hidden, in a closet. When I moved I put it up in my workshop, but still didn’t see it often. I spent a lot of time embarrassed and ashamed of the man that I had become. I wasn’t living up to what I was responsible for. F3 has changed that in me. Laziness, fear, and anxiety are afterthoughts now. The plaque is in a spot where I see it daily, where it should be, as a reminder of how I need to live for my family. It reads:
Am I the thoroughbred man, I want my laddie to be:
In the days that are now his future, Do I want him to be like me?
Nature’s put my mark on his features, I’m putting my stamp on his soul.
Can I help my boy reach the highlands, If I strive for a lesser goal?
’tis a sobering thought for fathers, aye a sobering thought for me;
As my boy sets on life’s ocean, shall he chart his course by me?
Shall he think the thoughts that I think; shall he say the things that I say;
Shall he live the life that I live; when I come to the end of my way?
To our boys is the task of the future, we’ll soon leave the world in their care.
As a father, I’ll help or hinder my boy’s life burdens to bear.
For this law is not to be broken, ’tis almighty God’s wonderful plan-
I must be a thoroughbred father, if I’d sire a thoroughbred man.
HIMs, we can’t be perfect. But, we can do better than we are. If you have to think twice about doing something, odds are it is sinful. If you are about to do something that you wouldn’t want your wife, kids, or God to see you do, stop. If you don’t want your son to grow up to be like you, change. And, if you wouldn’t want your daughter to bring you home to meet you, sins and all, do something about it.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
JUCO is hosting convergence on 3/28/20, put it on your calendars and get out there! Mermaid and myself will be heading up a pre-ruck from 0600-0700 before the beatdown, full smokey plus the third leg.
THE SCENE: A brisk 22 degrees. F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER:Administered WARM-O-RAMA: Finkle Swings OYO
Moroccan Nightclubs x 10 IC
Seal squats x 10 IC
Merkins x 10 IC
Projectivator x 12 IC
Slow mosey to the retaining wall. Half of PAX go down the fence line, half stay up on the retaining wall. Both groups do exercises in cadence. On the fence – dips. On the wall – squats. Switchero.
Move to the guardrail. Half do tempo derkins. Half do mountain climbers. Switchero.
THA THANG:
Mosey to Jucomanjaro. We’re going on a rescue mission, men! Imagine that Jucomanjaro is an icy mountain and at the top is a frozen lake. We just received word that a husband and wife have fallen through the ice and need rescue!
Team DORA… Divide into two teams. One team attempts to scale the icy mountain (runs a set duration, then turns back to meet the other team), while the other team prepares for the rescue mission (performs exercises). Upon meeting, they switch roles.
…about half way through the workout, one team will make it to the top of Jucomanjaro, where they will find two posts (the couple needing rescue from the ice). They use the remainder of their time to move these posts down the hill. At the alarm, they run down and switch roles with the other team…
Each round is 5 exercises and the reps build on each other (e.g. Round 1 = 1 burpee, Round 2 = 1 burpee + 2 iron mikes, Round 3 = 1 burpee + 2 iron mikes + 3 imperial squawkers…)
Round 1: Team 1 runs 1.5 minutes then turns back. Team 2 does exercises.
1 Burpee
2 Iron Mikes
3 Imperial Squawkers (4 CT)
4 Clap Merkins
5 Mountain Climbers (4 CT)
BEAR CRAWL until you meet the other team – then SWITCH roles.
Round 2:
Team 1 runs 2.5 minutes then turns back. Team 2 does exercises.
6 Heals to Heaven (4 CT)
7 BBS
8 Parker Merkins
9 Bobby Hurleys
10 Carolina Dry Docks
BEAR CRAWL until you meet the other team – then SWITCH roles.
Round 3: Team 1 runs 3.5 minutes then turns back. Team 2 does exercises.
11 Twinkle Toes (single count)
12 Flutter kicks (4 CT)
13 Wide Merkins
14 LBCs (4 CT)
15 Pickle pounders (4 CT)
BEAR CRAWL until you meet the other team – then SWITCH roles.
Round 4:
Team 1 runs 4.5 minutes then turns back. Team 2 does exercises.
16 Merkins
17 Squats
18 Hello Dolly (4 CT)
19 Rosalitas (4 CT)
20 SSH (4 CT)
BEAR CRAWL until you meet the other team – then SWITCH roles.
Back to the shovel flag!
MARY:
No time!
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
22 HIMs
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
We had two representations of two very real people, Larry and Chrissy Watters. Larry and Chrissy live in Nova Scotia, in a cabin on a lake. One winter when the lake had frozen over, they drove their ATV out onto the ice. The ice cracked under the weight, the front end of the ATV went through, and they rolled into the water. Fighting for their lives, they tried over and over to climb out but they couldn’t quite get themselves out of the freezing water. For 10 minutes they tried but made no progress. The ice water was sucking the life from their bodies. Freezing to death, they said their last goodbyes to each other and embraced. Then Chrissy remembered and said to her husband, “Larry, your Leatherman!!”. Larry had a Leatherman in his pocket! He took it out, stabbed the ice the ice with it, drug himself out, then got his wife out – they survived!
Can you relate to Larry and Chrissy Watters while they were in the ice water? Is there something that is sucking away your vitality – and, like Larry and Chrissy, you have tried over and over and over to get out – and nothing seems to work?
…a job that sucks, but you endure it out of obligation or because of momentum. But you get no joy from it and it is sucking away the best of you.
…an important relationship that has soured – or is just complacent? It feels like it is sucking your life away.
…a dependence on alcohol? If it is numbing you as a father, husband, or friend – then it is sucking your life away.
…pornography? You can’t stop yourself from looking at fake images of fake women – and it is impacting how you relate to your wife – and IT. IS. SUCKING. YOUR. LIFE. AWAY.
…or maybe it’s a dream that has gone unfulfilled. It would be a great thing for you – if only it would happen. And it is all the waiting and heartbreak that seems to be sucking your vitality from you…
Maybe you need different perspective on your challenge and a change to your strategy ([Chrissy] “…your Leatherman!”) By that I mean, maybe you need to explain your situation to a trusted friend and ask him, “what is something that I can do to make progress on this?” If he’s a good and wise friend, his answer might be hard for you to swallow – but you need to listen closely. His solution to your problem might be, “to get out of debt, you need to sell your house that you never should of bought because you can’t afford it”, or “to overcome your addiction to pornography, you need to get rid of every screen in your home and get a flip phone”, or “if you dream of a big family and haven’t been successful in getting pregnant, maybe it’s time to consider adoption”.
If you haven’t gained any ground on something that is challenging you and limiting the life that you are living, maybe its time for you to enlist a friend for their perspective and insights.
“The godly give good advice to their friends” (Proverbs 12:26)
“Let a righteous man strike me — it is a kindness; let him rebuke me — it is oil for my head; let my head not refuse it.” (Psalm 141:5)
“Faithful are the wounds of a friend…” Proverbs 27:6
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Dart Gun’s father, Dave, and his ongoing battle with cancer (specifically medications). Continued prayers for Spotter’s mother and her battle with cancer. Prayers for Curveball’s family – they lost his nephew 8 years ago and the anniversary of that tragedy is hard. Praise and prayers for Slappy – his oldest daughter is a teenager!
T Claps for Spotter, the Co-Q today! This could not have happened without you, brother!
Hat tips to those who inspired the Q and Word today – Drifter for his crazy and hilarious-sounding Q at the Bombshelter a few weeks back and Pool Boy for his JUCO Word a couple of weeks ago, “Press on!”
Here’s a short story of Larry and Chrissy Watters;
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
OTB Bootcamp at All Saints next Thursday! This is a try-out for a potential new Cedar Bluff-based AO. Contact Mermaid for details.
Save the date! March 28th, 7:00am. CONVERGENCE AT JUCO, BABY!
THE SCENE: Perfect…might have been a little cold (29F) but it wasn’t raining and it was dry.
F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER: Almost nailed it but Judge had to remind me this is my VQ and I am not a professional.
WARM-O-RAMA:
Burpees, Cherry Pickers, LBAC, WWII sit-ups, Tempo Diamond Merkins. Paused to appreciate that we were still dry after Warm-O-Rama
THA-THANG:
Headed over to the guardrail for 41 tricep dips and a musical serenade to Guardrail to recognize his 41st trip around the sun. Mosey over to the coupon pile. Everyone grabbed a coupon, circled up and held an air chair while I explained “Capture the Coupon” Counted off into teams of 4 and headed over to the parking lot and each team took their corner. Each coupon had been labeled with an exercise and number of reps before the beat down. Each HIM did the exercise on their individual coupon and then left it behind at their base while going to attack another team’s coupon supply and bring one back to their base to perform the next exercise found on the coupon. It was mayhem for a little while but eventually the PAX got the hang of it and their was a full melting pot of the Lexicon going on simultaneously. It was quite a beautiful scene. Trolley tried to only capture the burpee coupon but KickFlip perfected the cup and ball magic trick and left him with bear crawls, which was still fine with him. It was chaos but everyone seemed to enjoy it. Mosey back to the shovel flag and had time for one more push before we timed out. Eye of the Tiger came over the sound waves and the PAX performed Rocky Balboas until the chorus finally came. We dropped and did merkins during the chorus and then back to Rocky Balboas during the second verse. Did one more round of Merkins during the second chorus and then stopped for a quick Mary.
MARY:
Did pickle pounders in cadence. Once you reached the number of years you were married you stopped and held plank. Curveball was our most experienced pickle pounder – still in perfect form after 25 years (I believe). RESPECT
COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
29 HIMs in attendance.
CIRCLE OF TRUST/BOM:
James 1: 2-4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” Guardrail prayed this verse over my wife while helping stay with our children for another late night trip to the ER. It has been on my mind ever since. There is something about counting it ALL joy that is so beautiful but also so difficult in reality. We all have those people in our lives that have perfected it and always have a smile on their face and you know there is nothing FAKE about it. It is a contagious JOY that always brightens my day when I get to be in their presence. We should all strive to live every moment of our lives with a posture towards JOY. We can’t let the trials of the day overcome the blessings as they are always abundant when we choose to look for them. Trials are the way God brings us closer to full dependence on Him. It exposes the weakness in our Faith and the more we need his Grace. We all face choices when trials come our way….turn to sin (doubting God, angry with God, turn to substance, bad relationships, etc) or submit to our inability to do it alone and the necessity of being fully dependent on Him. In time the patience, endurance, steadfastness learned through trials sharpens our FAITH and makes us perfect and complete. Last night my wife unbeknownst to her that I had chosen this verse to talk about said “I am so filled with JOY. I haven’t felt this good in so many months.” Hearing that was by far the best Valentines gift I have received in all my years and just one more confirmation of how good He is ALWAYS. I want to thank everyone that has prayed for her and our family over the past several months, it has been such a blessing for us all. Let’s strive to always count it ALL joy, today, tomorrow and ALWAYS.
MOLESKIN:
Prayers for Trolley’s wife ankle and ability to see a doctor quickly. Prayers for Commision’s friend who is recovering from an appendectomy.
