The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. YHC ran the Sparta route twice in the last week to make sure I knew where all the pain stations were going to be along the 4.5 mile mossy… However, those were during the day and you could see everything around you. Come to find out, the 4 mile Greenway trail in Matthews is a REALLLLLY dark trail at 5:15 AM and not all the pain stations were found. But since none of us are professionals and we declare so that the start of each work out, improvisation is expected from time to time.
The Thang
Return trip
Moleskin:
Total of 4.5 miles with pain stations along the way. (The Mosey pace was at an 8:06 min mile)
This is an excellent location for a morning run. Deer and Rabbits are out in abundance and the Spring smell of flowers was amazing.
The long bridge before John St is much longer in the dark than it appears in the day light, so if you are going to sprint it, be ready to sprint a little longer than expected.
Was expecting a few more today but the text messages from 2 unnamed pax both indicated the Alarm did not go off…. All good.. next week we get to do it all over again so I am sure they will make it then.
Announcements
THIS IS SPARTA!!!
Stay Strong. It was an honor to lead this morning.
Respectfully
Gypsy
Back story:
Tuesday I woke up to post at Thrive in Union County and realized I was out of coffee. Not Good!! Everyone knows that gypsies must have coffee to get the caravans moving and my trusty neighbor Christmas is traveling this week so I cannot steal any from him either. So…… after a solid beatdown; during the COT, there was a request for fill in Q at Overdrive… and still suffering from lack of caffeine… yup.. tag.. I’m it.. (#FriendsDontLetFriendMakeCaffeineFreeDecisions)
Now that I grabbed the tiger by the tail… what to plan for a Gear workout??
It is my VQ at a Gear site (officially if you don’t count an impromptu Q fartsack).. how hard can it be?? Qed Bootcamps, Running, Events.. Gear should not be too bad. Except YHC needs to now find enough “Gear” to accommodate the fluctuating UC PAX numbers that could be anywhere from 2 to 20 on any given day.
Fast forward to today (May the 4th be with you!!)
Arrive at AO 5AM to start looking for some quality Gear to lead the PAX this morning…
Lo and behold, 3 industrial sized Dumpsters sit right on the edge of the AO parking lot and I think that would be a perfect place to look. Let’s see what’s been thrown out that we can reclaim.
That should be plenty. (I hope) Now what to do with it all when not knowing how many will escape the fartsack to join me in reclaiming all these wonderful new toys. I’m sure we can figure something out.
Give disclaimer
Warmup:
The THANG:
Grab your bells and mossy over to the dumpsters to discovery all the new Gypsy toys to play with. 🙂
2 stacks of index cards.
One has the timer exercise and the other has 3 listed exercises with the piece of gear to use getting in AMRAP while timer is putting in some work.
1 pax randomly selects the timer exercise and a 2nd pax selects the AMRAP exercise
Timer Cards: Starting from dumpsters to edge of parking lot and back
AMRAP Cards: (each pax performs 1 of the listed 3 until timer pax returns then rotate exercises until all have had turn at timer)
Moleskin:
Announcements:
As always: It was an honor to lead this morning. STAY STRONG!!!
Respectfully,
YHC (Gypsy)
Rain snow sleet or hail… it does not matter to BullWinkle or I.. in fact, for some crazy reason, BW typically comes out in the worst weather possible: so, I was surprised to see him this morning when the weather was so amazing for F3 standards, but glad he posted to hold me accountable today.
(52 degrees, low humidity, and cloudless morning allowing YHC to enjoy seeing the dawn stars)
Limited audience this morning for a partner workout made it really quick and easy to explain what was going to take place. Called out the Disclaimer and we took off on a Circuit workout geared to enable all fitness levels the ability to push themselves as well as partnering up to create accountability.
Together, Bullwinkle and YHC completed 5 laps of the below circuit around Stalling Elementary School for a total of 2.04 miles.
The Thang: (LBCs as the 6 hold exercise vs plank… I really dislike planks)
Station 1:
15 dips at the outside lunch room tables (Run to next station)
Station 2:
15 partner leg throws (doing you best to ensure your feet do not touch the ground through entire set) (Run to next station)
Station 3:
Catch your breath with a People’s chair up against back wall with 15 civilian count air presses (Run to next station)
Station 4:
15 WW2 sit-ups at front left corner of school (Run to next station)
Station 5:
Plank walk hand-over-hand down 2 curb sections straight into 10 burpees at front entry of school. (Run to next station)
Rinse and repeat until 6:10am
MoleSkin:
Like all other AOs I am sure the challenges at Conviction are the same. As the Q, creating a Boot Camp beat down ahead of time that can accommodate an unknown number of variables from weather, to PAX size, to PAX condition, to last minute AO modifications. Yet at the end of the Boot Camp, no matter what, as a Q or Site Q’s you make sure to have left no man behind, challenge leaders to push themselves just a little bit harder, strengthened our shield bonds, and always end with the COT. As an F3 gypsy, YHC has been to 6 different Regions this year and I can tell you that all the Regions have their own flavor of COT. However, I have recently seen some AOs that have decided to “Skip” this part and F1 until the last minute. After church this past Sunday, YHC had an excellent conversation with Dredd and Borland on the foundations of the COT to conclude the F3 workouts that I wish I could have recorded. (to sum it up for you) As leaders, we need to make sure we are not reinforcing this action. The foundation of Fellowship and Faith are part of the 3-legged stool that make up the 3 F’s for us. If you are allowing just F1 at your AO then you need to ask yourself why and it may be a good time to review the Foundations of F3. Here you go… I will help you with the link: https://f3nation.com/f3-foundation/
MAJOR T-CLAPs to BullWinkle today on pushing himself through the Leg throws. You killed it brother!!!
See you all in the Gloom real soon!!
Respectfully,
Gypsy
The 2018 racing season for Speed for Need is off and running.
Carrying the momentum from two extremely successful events thus far (Joe Davis and Run Jen Run), the F3 Nation PAX is set up to PUSH 6 races in April, spread out over 5 regions, culminating with a final weekend on April 28th with our friends at The Paula Takacs Foundation for their signature fund raiser the Sarcoma Stomp!
A truly amazing event; it will take participants on a 5k loop course through the beautiful neighborhoods of Mammoth Oaks and Landsdowne in Charlotte NC. This family friendly occasion is perfect for all ages. As the men of F3 are out pushing 6 Speed for Need,Inc customized racing wheelchairs, your family can share in a fun and uplifting morning! Your 2.0’s will love the face painting, tattoos, games, snacks and visits from our favorite mascots!
The mission of the Paula Takacs Foundation for Sarcoma Research is to raise funds that will directly benefit the fight to end sarcoma. By supporting local, innovative research with a relentless commitment to excellence, we open a pathway for scientists and other research professionals to develop and offer cutting-edge treatment options to more sarcoma sufferers. Thus helping to expand our global hope for a cure.
The Paula Takacs Foundation for Sarcoma Research was born out of Paula Takacs’ love of life, love of family, and love of her circle of friendship. This circle continues to grow through the work of this foundation, the people whose lives we touch, and the differences we strive to make towards finding cures, for patients locally and throughout the world.
The Paula Takacs Foundation for Sarcoma Research is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation founded in Charlotte, NC.
The mission of Speed for Need, Inc is to raise awareness and foster inclusion of those with a special need through participation in fitness events supported by the men of F3 Nation. Simply put, our goal is to help people get to the finish line and finish the race… their race.
At our core, we push track commanders (riders with needs that are special) in customized racing wheelchairs to help them participate and complete fitness events such as 5Ks, 10Ks, or marathons. Our goal is to give them an experience that they would not otherwise be able to have on their own accord. Inevitably, our track commanders are the ones that are actually pushing us though. They are inspiring us to step up, engage, and lead. They are motivating us to become better people, better servants, and better leaders. Our track commanders lead the way in every Speed for Need, Inc event. It is that unique, symbiotic relationship between the track commanders, the drivers, and all of those people running and spectating that help to raise awareness for social causes, foster inclusion, and connect the track commanders to the overall fitness community.
So the question stands…Who Pushes Who?
Contact(s): Twitter @F3SPEEDFORNEED or @JRRTolkienF3 or GypsyFit_F3
Respectfully,
JRR Tolkien & Gypsy
1201 AM: When the day of Q starts with you still 90 miles away from home, you know it is going to be rough. As I ponder the various ways to explain why I fartsacked my Q for Sparta, I kept coming back to the realization that no valid reason short of my Truck driving off this ridiculously curvy interstate 26 in the mountains of TN would work considering the Site Q participated on an Ultra team in the P200 only days before. (seriously though… the TN DOT must have some crazy law on the book that interstates can’t be straight for more than a half mile before a curve is randomly placed in it. Smokey can you confirm this idea?) After way to much coffee to get me home, I had the dreadful realization that what kept me awake for the drive home was now keeping me awake while I’m trying to sleep.. !@#$%&.…
Solid 2.5 hrs of sleep and time to get the Speed For Need (SPN) Chariot trailer loaded onto the Gypsy-mobile. Again, thinking trough how much crap I would get if I FartSacked, YHC decides that the Great Q in the sky has placed me in this situation for a reason and I committed to the PAX a SPN training post… So off I go.
WE all know the Great sky Q has a since of humor at times… but today this day was not one that I really wanted to be tested… however, YHC was for sure being tested as to if I would follow through with the commitment or not.
430 AM: Headlamp on trying to get the dang key into the trailer hitch lock and the tummlers are not working… Way to sleepy to think of something simple like use WD40 to help… many choice words and various 4 letter ones were used to describe this inanimate object at 430 in the morning and yet for some reason it still did not work. (Could have been a very easy reason to cancel the post and go back to bed)
445 AM Time to improvise…pull 2 Chariots out and load them into the back of the truck.
455 AM Thank goodness I have been doing F3 for a while now… although the chariots are not heavy, they are awkward to lift solo into the back of your truck. All those morning random coupon posts have finally paid off…Send a message to the Site Q and let him know I’m on the way.
515 AM pull in right on time to start. The intent was a Chariot training post meaning the wienke was short.
The Thang:
Show how the Chariots work.
Pair up by height so the handles are set properly and time to roll. Release the break and off on a F2 pace 5K+ run with very limited exercises to retain the “Boot-Camp” tag for the AO. (A few merkins, Hill-Billies, Low Slow Squats, and SSH.)
My choice for where we were going to the get the kilometers in was a reallllly bad idea due to the steepness of the hills. Time to call an audible and mosey around the neighborhood (Thank you Madison for taking lead on the directions for this) until we get back to the AO. Finish up with some stretching, circle up for COT, load Chariots back in the truck, and time to place this post in the history books!!
MoleSkin:
Lots of lessons for YHC on this one.
As Always: Thank you all for everything you do every day
Respectfully,
YHC Gypsy
BackBlast for Sparta (Typos and all)
YHC is not a prolific orator like the great Demosthenes of Athenia who would tell stories and spin tails to incite the most passive of Greeks to defend the great lands.
No…. I am but a simple servant for the Great Q in the sky and this is SPARTA!!! Where talk is cheap: Sweat, Dirt, Cold, and Pain are what sets us apart from those with the gift of Mumble Chatter. Merkins, LBCs, IWs and long Moseys are our common language shared by ALL the PAX members that take up the battle against the morning gloom locking shields to help one another drive accountability. Today just such a glorious battle occurred that defeated most my fellow noble PAX members, but not all. 3 HIMs of great fortitude took up the call of Sparta this perfect morning to help urge the sun to rise and stars to set as we started off on a cold Spring morning.
The Thang:
Our Q for the mission today had an obligation that occurred last minute and at least one of the Site Qs had already indicated he would not be able to attend as well. Arriving at Socrates Academy the concern became real that I may be not only taking leading today’s Post but also rolling solo.
5:15 time to start:
Ok.. real question here… if you post alone and you have on a F3 shirt but there is no one around to hear you recite the declaration of you can not sue anyone, the site, F3, etc… does it still count or is your non-F3 persona (Hospital name) allowed to agree for you??
“I’m Gypsy, I am not a professional, work out at our own risk, cant sue yourself or anything… yada yada yada.. Understood Gypsy, I’m John, lets get to work its cold so stop all the talking and run..”
5:17
After having an extremely intelligent conversation with some guy named John that obviously had not had any coffee yet, I was headed out to run as many laps around the academy as possible… but wait.. what are these lights pulling in!! 2 cars and its way to early for anyone except fellow crazy pax members that also want to run around in the dark at 5:15 (ish) in the morning while it is 33 degrees with made up names, compression running pants, and frequent stops to lay on the cold asphalt to do LBCs.. There is something seriously wrong with us when you actually read that out loud?!??!?? Or is there more to it??
After a late start: it went like this. (no Weinke so we are winging it)
MoleSkin
Great work by Shake-N-Bake and PopTart today. Having PopTart out front most of the way kept S-N-B and I pushing ourselves even harder to keep up.
S-N-B: Glad to hear that your pending move is still going well and I look forward to helping on moving day. (Chappa and M coming as well)
PopTart: Enjoy the new coupon.. Tons of ways to help motivate the PAX into getting stronger with that one. Good luck tomorrow Cerberus PAX!!
The Naked Moleskin
Yup, its ugly.. Although most will see it as someone else… Kinda like nobody thinks their own baby is ugly (but lets face it, we have all seen an ugly baby before)
However, 1st I want to thank everyone in this great F3 Nation for everything you do every day. YHC hears of amazing Opportunities, Stories, Fellowship, and growth as I have traveled the country posting at different AOs. But I have to ask each of us to look inside and ask “why do I F3?” and YHC is not casting stones in a glass house here. I realize I need to step up my game and get better every day to help lead, support, and encourage those around me.
Conversations about the way F3 use to be with all AOs having shovel flags and close bonds, or mumblechatter about it being to cold/ or wet/ or early, AO Site Qs not holding Qs accountable for the simple things like opening declarations/COT/ or heaven forbid a Backblast. If these are items you have seen, fix it.. You are free to lead.. but don’t propagate the negative and darn sure don’t support it if you are the site Q. F3 helps to invigorate male community leadership.. so be a leader. I promise: YHC will intentionally work at getting better at this.
F2 events: You may be surprised how many of your peer pax actually look completely different when it’s not 530 am in the dark and they have actually brushed their hair. Get out and talk with your F3 nation brothers. Yes.. I know I know.. you use to.. but how many members are new, do they have 2.0s, what do they do for a living, do they need any help with anything? Attend the Saturday post beatdown coffee from time to time. So.. you don’t drink alcohol and I respect that, but showing up to a monthly Happy Hour is more than a beer. Pax member needs assistance: Show up or at least respond. Is it always convenient to take time out of your day to help others? Of course not.. but if all you are looking for is a morning workout? Why F3 at all? The theme is… “Show up”
I had a real hard lesson a few months back when we had a convergence at Conviction with the Mint Hill Pain Academy. That following Saturday a pax member that was at MY AO site, at MY Q beatdown, in MY COT, that sweated with me for 45 mins died that following Saturday and I had no idea who he was. I was informed by a fellow pax that his last bootcamp he attended was the Convergence that YHC co-Qed and I never took the time to actually recognize he was there in a shield lock with me.. I F1ed hard… but glanced right past the glue of F2 to actually “see” him as my Brother until it was too late. Don’t make the mistake I did.. F2 guys!! and include with your 2.0s and Ms where and when possible.
Enough of a Naked Moleskin. I think anyone that actually read this far understands the point. Lets lock shields and help all get a little better every day. Whether you have been here since day one or FNGed today.. you are what makes F3… so help make it the best you can.
Announcements:
I ask each of you to hold YHC accountable and I in return will do the same for you.
Respectfully,
Gypsy (John)
The looooooong way around how the Conviction PAX finally met Mary
Slight back story: Spent the weekend driving down to Huntsville AL then to Birmingham AL for my daughter’s LAX games. In the back seat of the truck was my 2.0 (Choppa) hacking away with a mild end of Winter cold.
Fast forward 5 days: Alarm goes off at 4:45 and the last thing I want to do is get up after spending all night coughing thanks to 2.0, but YHC has the Q and telling this PAX in the UC that I fartsacked a Q for a little cough is not something I was willing to take harassment for. (I will hold that card for one of those 40-degree nasty raining mornings) Any way, pour some coffee, grab the weinke, I load up the Gypsy-truck with the gear (yup gear for the boot camp) collect Christmas and off we go.
5:30 time to make announcements. In recent conversations regarding moderate AOs, if the attending pax are all long standing F3 members with no injuries, the site modification is converted from a “moderate” to a standard F3 Boot Camp. Looking around I take note that all members in the PAX have Qed at some point and as such, I declare the site is not moderate today. This was perfect because it was cold and extra running added in would help keep everyone warm.
Time to mosey:
It did not take much time for the PAX to realize I was a little out of it from not feeling well when I pointed the direction we were going to run and took off the other direction. Whatever, I knew in my mind we were circling around, but words were not working yet for me after about 3 hrs total sleep. Finally getting where YHC pointed, we circle up for warmup as we hold for whoever that was that came screaming in on 2 wheels.
Warm-up:
Mosey around the school to the back bus lot where the YHC’s truck is waiting for us with some fun coupons in the back. Each pax picks their chosen coupon after being told they will be for lifting and not running. (we had concrete blocks of 3 sizes and few different weighted kettle bells).
The Thang: Deck of Death (WIB) PAX divided up into 2 groups
Instructions:
Clubs = Hand Release Merkins
Hearts = Squats (with coupon)
Diamonds = WWII sit-ups
Spades = Over head press(with coupon)
Number = number of reps
Jacks = 11
Queen = 12
King = 13
Ace =14
Mubblechatter was very light with the constant movement by everyone. Not much to discuss on this one as the PAX got to work knocking this card game out with the only general complaints that YHC did not shuffle the deck very well. However, I deflected to Bullwinkle since he cut the deck before we dealt out the 2 stacks. ? Ended the card game at the awkward time in the beatdown where it is not enough time to repeato (although I mentioned it and the PAX declined) but too much time to start Mary.
Not a problem… because YHC may not be a Professional as declared at beginning, but I am a Professional at not being a professional and this ain’t my 1st Q, so we mosey over to the playground for some impromptu. Not enough time for finding Dora, but the tables look great for a quick round of DIPs, Derkins, and step-ups. 15 each. Finish up and mosey back to the flag from some classic core burning Mary.
Mary:
Naked Moleskin:
Thanks to the PAX for helping through this one. It was a tough one for me since I literally went home after and drank some Nyquil went back to sleep for the day. Solid work by all. YHC trialed a new technique for the Conviction AO with extra exercises for the PAX while holding for the 6 vs. ping ponging back to collect. Since we stay on campus for this AO and YHC informed the PAX where our next stop point was, I felt like we were adhering to the Credo of leave no man behind but leave no man where you found him. This approach appeared to work well and YHC will continue to incorporate it into the weinke.
Announcements:
Respectfully,
YHC Gypsy
I guess the old saying holds true…
He who complains about the cooking becomes the cook. Well…at least the spirit of the saying did.
A few weeks back, YHC attended a boot camp AO in MECA called Piledriver Qed by Ribshack (hell-of-a guy to Q BTW if you get an opportunity to talk him into leading your AO). I hated (in a good way) the beatdown so much that I immediately reached out to the Sparta AO site Qs and told them how awful it was and it would be perfect for an AO that has Running as the primary F1 function. In typical Madison fashion, this turned into somehow YHC was now setup to Q what I just said was amazingly terrible. The WIB is called “Old Glory” and went something like this:
Disclaimer given (yup.. not a professional….I hate running….if you hurt yourself…sorry about your luck, but I have no money to be sued for.. following me on a run at 5:15 in the morning is your own fault and not F3’s or Socrates Academy so don’t go bugging them either if you get hurt.) and understood.
The Thang:
No time for warm up things like SSH, IWs, Hill Billie’s, etc … this is a Running AO.. we have running to do… (YHC did forget it was a moderate… sorry guys)
Although the wienke for the WIB was already crafted for me, I still needed to find the best way to accommodate both clydesdale and rabbits. The start and finish were easy enough, but the grind part of the beatdown was a challenge.
5:15 we launch on a 1 mile warm-up run leaving Socrates Academy parking lot toward Colonel Beatty park entrance sign and back to the Academy at a F2 pace to keep the PAX together. Instructions were given before we left that upon return is where the grind would start. The AO for Sparta happens to be just square enough and just long enough (1/3 mile) to accommodate any potential clydesdale and rabbits that would post.
The Grind:
OYO:
This is where I get into trouble as a Q.. this stuff looks great on paper.. but dang.. in reality I want to kick the guy that writes my Qs up, but my legs aren’t working so good today and butt kickers are nowhere near anything I want to do right now to myself.
6am. Finally finished…
But wait..what happened with the last 15 mins of post you ask?
There’s more!!
For the low low price of a Free F3 F1 post, you too get to run another mile because this WIB is called Old Glory and why not take Old Glory for a nice morning run too. Off we go again on a 1 mile run leaving Socrates Academy parking lot toward Colonel Beatty park entrance sign and back to the Academy at a F2 pace to keep the PAX together. We take turns handing off our Great nation’s flag between pax to take the lead as we follow Old Glory down Wedding road for all the early morning commuters to see.
I would like to say that YHC was able to perform 5 mins of Mary.. but if you have read this far, you know I was not going to be able to do that. Madison took the Q lead for this part and I vaguely recall some voices calling out stretching positions. I tried a few, then realized that was not in the cards for today…
Moleskin:
This is an excellent AO F3 Nation. If you have not been out to this site, put it on your bucket list to attend a post in the near future. The setup is to accommodate all our clydesdale and rabbits. FNG friendly and 2.0 approved. You push yourself as hard as you can but always have a pax nearby to lend a helpful word of encouragement to power through. In all today we clocked around 5 miles and completed roughly 175 merkins/dips.
Final note for all my F3 nation brothers out there… Don’t ever recommend to a Site Q a potential workout: unless you are willing to show up and Q it yourself. (the good Lord knows I have learned my lesson on this one).
Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you found him! #credo
Respectfully,
Gypsy
Announcements:
Post on behalf of Shepherd
The Thang:
Mosey around the Parking Lot.
COP
Mosey to the Tables at the front of the school. 10 Dips, 10 Step-ups (each leg), then Run to the 2nd light pole near the entrance; Repeato, except 10 Derkins in place of Step-ups, then Run to the Stop sign.
Mosey back to the Bus Lot, and partner up. Partner 1 runs around the track one lap, while Partner 2 does called exercise, then flapjack, until all exercises completed. Merkins X 100, LBC’s X 200, LSS X 300, and 50 Burpees (just to make it fun!).
Mosey back to Front Parking Lot for a little Hill work! 7’s on the hill, LBC’s at the top, and Bombjacks at the bottom. (Watch out for the soggy ground at the bottom!) Here comes a little bit of rain!
Time for exactly 6 minutes of Mary:
Moleskine:
Was this supposed to be a “Moderate” workout? Guess I’m not crazy about Moderate; so, we’ll have to settle for “MADerate” instead! The PAX were forgiving, nevertheless! All were glad that the rain held off, but may have preferred a modified Thang due to rain, rather than the Maderate Thang! eHarmony was happy to have a little rain for the cool down stage!
TClaps to Sticky Note for taking us out!
Shepherd.
I took a little saunter down into Union County to see what the boys at Conviction were up to and ended up Qing a “Moderate” beatdown, whatever that means.
Mosey around the back of the school to the bus lot.
Move over to the lines.
COP
Mosey to the front of the school and choose a picnic table.
Mosey back to the cars.
Yoga
Peace,
Deuce