5 pax arrived for the anticipation of YHC Q and the Base Camp finale of 2018. The plan was to launch at 6:00 after a pre run at 5:30 with communications being made well in advance on Slack and Twitter. When YHC arrived at 5:31 he was coerced into starting early with the expectation we’d check in around 6:00 to see if anyone would be launching then. After a brief yet heartfelt disclaimer we were off mosey on down Strawberry towards Gateway.
COP(All in cadence):
Imperial Walker 20
LSS 10
The Thang:
Instructions were given to run down Strawberry towards the intersection of Rosecliff and Strawberry. Stopping at each speed bump for 5 squats and 5 merkins. Upon reaching the intersection, instructions were given for a triple nickel. At the top of the hill(Strawberry and Rosecliff intersection) perform 10 monkey humpers. At the bottom of the hill(1st neighborhood culdesac at the bottom of Rosecliff) perform 10 Jump Squats. Instructions were to repeat this route 5 times, however due to time constraints everyone got in at least 3 rounds while leaders got in 4 rounds. Quick mosey back to launch to see if anyone was there, one pax was leaving campus as we arrived. YHC fault for listing to the pax to start early, should’ve had them all run a pre run prior to the main event.
Upon arriving at launch, a visit to Semi’s office where we did 2 rounds of peoples chair of 50 air presses and 75 air presses. With time to spare, instructions were given to run the suicide gauntlet of basketball hoops with no exercises in between.
Mary:
LBC: 20 IC
Rosaslitas: 10 IC
Dolly: 10 IC
American Hammer: 10
Protractor until time was called.
Moleskin:
YHC Promised just under 2 miles today, I clocked us in at 2.41 miles leaders probably got in closer to 2.7 today. Tried to keep us all close together and fairly moderate, minus going over little over a half mile we kept that goal in tact. War Eagle was out front most of the work out ready to crush his 5k he has to start off 2019 this weekend, followed closely behind by Carney. Thunder Road and Smash let their work do the talking and absolutely crushed it today. I don’t get to come out to Base Camp or really any site in the week much anymore due to a new teaching job. It was nice to come on out to Base Camp and lead the workout for you all.
Announcements:
-Joe Davis Run March 9th(10 K and 5 K). This will be a huge F3 event, if you can do a boot camp there’s no reason you can’t run this course.
-Come out to Rebel Yell on Thursday’s to support War Eagle
-Thank you Smash for the take out
-Thank you for Goonie and Thunder Road for allowing me to lead today and for continuing to lead a strong AO
-Sound off with any mumble chatter YHC missed
-Have a safe and happy New Year, see you all in the Gloom in 2019
A journey of 1,000 miles begins with 1 step.
I started the year like anyone else, with a vague notion of doing better than the year before. But better at what? I wanted to lose inches off my waist, stop always being the 6, get into the rucking thing. I’m not really sure I remember what I wanted, but I think it was forward momentum. Just not standing still.
And so, 2018 began. I remember training for the Joe Davis 10K run and treating it like it was a big deal. I had run 10 kilometers before, but something about this race was different. Maybe it was a huge F3 presence, or a chance to prove to the F3 pax/myself that I could run that distance at a respectable pace. A sense of accomplishment.
I did it, and then that race was over.
I had a great showing (IMHO), but there I was in the middle of January. The rest of the year ahead of me and it was time to decide on the next goal.
The next goal was a half-marathon, then it was SMR, Pathfinder ruck training, BRR, Go Ruck Events. After each of these, I found myself craving another goal just beyond the horizon. Working for that next CSAUP. After the half-marathon, I was sitting in a diner, ordering healthy food, and thinking about the next thing on my list. My family was happy, and proud, and kept congratulating me, but they were looking at that moment as the accomplished goal. I had already moved on to the next goal.
Maybe it’s because the destination isn’t the goal. The goal is the journey. The destination is just a chance for you to stop, look back and say, “Wow, that was an amazing accomplishment (or not).” Then keep moving forward.So, for 2019 I have more goals. This time the big one is to complete 100 miles a month, rucking or running, participating in a scheduled event or just at a workout. Pathfinder training for class 018 is almost done (a month ahead of schedule) and I’ll start class 019 in February. I’ve already scheduled 2 Go Ruck events and will be signing up again for the Joe Davis 10K.
I have so many people to thank for this, and I wouldn’t be able to remember them all in one sitting. So, here’s a thanks to everyone. Anyone who’s congratulated me, encouraged me, provided an uplifting comment, and even if you’ve thrown some shade my way, thanks. Although this is my journey, it’s not one I make alone.
2018 Achievements
Total Mileage: 1,008.6 miles of rucking or running or (sometimes) both
– First timed 10K (Joe Davis Run for Recovery)
– First ½ marathon (BB&T Corp Cup) – completed with a 30# ruck in under 2:30:00
– Ran #4 spot in the Smoky Mountain Relay, 9-man team, F3 Up ’n Over
– Ran #1 spot in the Blue Ridge Relay, 9-man team, F3 Up ‘n Over
– Crane Relay, Team Clean-Up
– Enrolled in 4 Pathfinder ruck training classes (2 Forward and 2 Endure classes)
– My neighbors (and my family) think I was crazy for walking around the neighborhood at all hours of the day (and night) with a backpack on and doing various exercises in the cul-de-sacs
– Go Ruck Light: Operation Red Wings
– Go Ruck Light: Carolina Ruck Club Battle (1st place team)
– Go Ruck Tough: Thanksgiving
– Go Ruck Light: Santa Ruck 2018
– Completed the Travis Manion 5K under ruck in 3rd place
– Completed the Let Them Soar 5K under ruck w/a track commander
– Q’d 15 F3 workouts across 2 regions
– Countless pre-runs, post-runs, pre-rucks, and post-rucks
If you’re looking for me in 2019, I’ll be that guy in the gloom always looking towards the horizon.
Announcements:
Disclaimer given.. (Little did I know at this point I was the one that needed to be worried about it)
This bootcamp was designed to help with the understanding that #ItsNotAllAboutThe1stF.
Name-o-Rama
Nothing in the F3 Nation principles that say you can’t start with the Name-O-Rama (Name-O-Rama is not the COT) and quite frankly I think it is a great practice that I witnessed at a Lexington KY Saturday bootcamp. They started with the Name-O-Rama so that all the pax members know each other’s names before having to partner up… plus there was a cool pain station that played into it as well that we used as well.
Warm-up
BLIMPS OYO (5 Burpees, 10 Lunges, 15 Imperil Walkers, 20 Merkins, 25 Plank Jacks, 30 Squats)
The Thang (F3 Nation Quiz) #ItsNotAllAboutThe1stF
7 pax catch their breath from the BLIMPS warm up as we mosey over to the bus lot. Call out the 1st exercise but 1st YHC starts with the 1st question of the day.
Horeshead: “We just had Name-o-Rama…. What is the 1st name of all pax here today?” Needless to say we had no one named Larry, Curly, Moe, or Squirrel. So it was time to perform a BLIMPS
Partner up:
Round 1: As partner 1 ran around the bus lot, Partner 2 had dips. Flap Jack
Second question: (1 pax randomly draws question from a stack): What is the Mission of Speed For Need?
“to raise awareness and foster inclusion of those with a special need through participation in fitness events supported by the men of F3 Nation.” He got it so we got out of BLIMPS and gave 20 Merkins to SFN instead.
Round 2: As partner 1 ran around the bus lot, Partner 2 had step ups on Brick benches. Flap Jack
Third question: (1 pax randomly draws question from a stack): What is the F3 Mission trip scheduled to leave in January: Chimbote Peru. Yup.. Missed it. Another BLIMP
Round 3: As partner 1 ran around the bus lot, Partner 2 had LBCs. Flap Jack
Lets Mosey: Over to Shiloh Elementary school bus lot. Mumble Chatter starts as soon as YHC favorite coupon comes into view. 25ft 5in supply line fire hose…50 lbs of dead weight to be used as the timer.
Gypsy rock
Everyone grab a rock from the pile and line up. Pax one grabs the hose and drags it to specified location and back. (much harder than it sounds) While the remaining pax performs a called exercise. Upon return with hose, all pax shift down one rock as the timer calls out next exercise. Continue until all pax have had a turn as timer.
Question 4: (1 pax randomly draws question from a stack): What is the F3 Mission? Can’t recall what the response was… but the result was BLIMPS as we read out loud the actual Mission:… to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership.
Round 2 of Gypsy Rock with a twist. YHC all but passes out (Cold sweats, dizzy, cant hear) and can’t remember what happens for the best part of 5 to 10 mins .. When I get my wits back I am doing flutters with Horsehead calling them out in cadence. Sorry guys.. but thanks for sticking it out with me there.. Okay.. Now that is over let’s get away from what every just kicked me in the gut.
Question 5: (1 pax randomly draws question from a stack): What is F3 Disaster Ops? YUP… another round of BLIMPS after the mission is read out loud: “F3 Disaster Operations helping F3 Regions B/4, During & After Disaster”
Ladder 7s
Lets Mosey back to launch location: With enough time for some long distance 7s, there was Bomb-Jacks at one end and Merkins at the other. But before we started….
Question 6: (1 pax randomly draws question from a stack) What is the Credo of F3? Nope.. not Free to Lead.. Great another round of BLIMPS after the Credo is read out loud.. (to be fair, I had not expected to do this many BLIMPS) Leave no man behind, but leave no man where you find him.
Okay.. Knock out Ladder 7s and we still have time for another question.
Question 7: (Answered as a PAX) What are 5 Principles of F3?
3 Mins of Mary
Flutters, LBC, American Hammer
COT
MoleSkin:
Solid pax as always and serious T-claps for Boonedock as he killed it on the Firehose. I think that 2.0 is maybe 100 lbs soaking wet and smoked that one. YHC made the mistake of saying before it started that we may need to modify for him. Wow was I wrong… YHC needed the modify instead.
I love seeing all the PAX across the nation in the Gloom.. but I love even more to see the in the 2nd and 3rd Fs. The beat downs are solid.. But F3 is more than just a beat down if you allow yourself to experience it. Do yourself a favor and check out the various social media sites and get connected into more of what F3 is about. The reward of finishing a crazy boot camp is 10 times greater when you know you did it with guys that are there for you (and you there for them) at more than just a partner DORA..
v/r
Gypsy
Men of South Charlotte, Area 51, SOB and Union County.
2019 marks the 9th year or F3’s existence and many of the originals in this region have been a part of F3 for 7+ years. During this time, we have seen a lot of growth and now this region hosts 50+ scheduled workouts a week, 7 3rd F groups, and many off the books running and rucking opportunities. Like many of you, we will likely never be able to give back to F3 as much as it has given to us over the past 5 years in terms of all 3 F’s.
As we move into a new year, we would like to encourage your continued efforts to fulfill our mission to plant, grow, and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership. This mission remains our cornerstone from the newest FNG among us to the longest tenured PAX in the Region.
To that end, and as you reflect on last year and make goals for next year, we would ask you to develop your leadership further within F3. Here is where we need you to pitch in for us to continue to be successful.
Bottom line, please pick a couple of these bullets and put them on your list for 2019 to improve your leadership in your F3 region. This doesn’t work without everyone leading their part.
Here’s to 2019 Men.
Alf & Thin Mint
SYITG
A sweltering 50+ degrees in December, brought out the pax and our resident Canadian, Strange Brew, went shirtless.
Warm-Up
10 merkins
15 Side-straddle hops
8 merkins
15 Imperial Walkers
6 merkins
10 low-slow squats
4 merkins
15 mountain climbers
2 merkins
R1 Back and Forth
10 rounds of traveling across the parking lot in various modes of locomotion and then completing Carolina Dry Docks.
We ran forward, backward, sideways. We broad jumped, lunged, duck walked, bear crawled and crab walked.
R2 Up and Down
We departed the parking lot and headed for Brixham Hill. Along the way, we stopped for 5 squats at each streetlight. Once we got to the base of the hill, we ran Native American style to Ballantyne CC. On the way down, we stopped for alternating calf raises and Bobby Hurleys.
R3 Around and Around
Climb Duckworth Wall and then start with 1 burpee, 2 merkins and 3 heels to heaven. Repeat and add a multiple of 1, 2 and 3 respectively. Keep going until we are out of time. By the end lots of guys were moaning on the ground or trying to catch their breath.
Moleskin
Mission accomplished. We managed to stay together for 3+ miles and squished in a healthy dose of bootcamp beatdown.
I missed, literally and figuratively, last week. It was great seeing the regulars Billygoat, Happy Meal, Shrinkwrap, Loogie and semi-regulars Kirby, Buckeye, Snowflake and Fire Hazard. Keep coming out and keep supporting each other.
I am ghost writing this back blast for Bottle Cap since he is traveling and I have time to kill before football starts.
19 men showed up even after a warning from Bottle Cap that Slam Balls would be used. Several Pax jumped on a deal bandwagon to grab $10 $26 20 lb slam balls from Hibbet Sports. In total, there were 7 balls at today’s workout. I brought 4, Bottle cap brought his 15 lb ball, and he stopped by Five stones early to grab the two that were there. Bottle Cap thought I pulled a “fuse” and gave him the wrong code to the F3 gear box at Five Stones, but alas he was able to get in to grab the two remaining balls.
WARM UP
Teams of 4 grab one ball then mosey to the baseball circle.
20 SSH
10 Imperial Squawkers
20 Slow Count Merkins (with a call out in my direction from BC)
5 Reverse Burpees (candle stick to some, but I like reverse burpee better). Squat down into a heels to heaven then get back up on to your feet for the jump up. (I found my forearms to hurt the worst from these as I was using my arms/hands to help “pop” back up.)
THE THANG
Indian Run Slam Ball Burpee. Person in the back takes the slam ball and runs to the front. Drops slam ball and person in back does a burpee, grabs slam ball and runs to the front. This was incredibly difficult to grasp for some (including the crew I was with). It turned into the fastest person grabbing the ball and us all running to catch up with the lead group. Indian run to the school parking lot.
The Beast – 6 trees, 6 reps. Each partner takes turns carrying the ball.
Knee Ups (sucks when you are recovering from a back injury). Marry for 6
Dolly’s 10 count 4 times. Each partner had a turn holding the slam ball.
Reverse Burpees. (you thought they sucked we we did five of them, wait until you do 6 of them 6 times!). Shoulder taps waiting for the 6.
Bomb Jacks. Back pocket plank waiting on 6.
Indian Run Slam Ball Burpee Run back to cars…no wait…keep going…all the way to the club house (Slamming brand new balls in wet muddy gravel???!! Really BC???)
Mary for the 6…which was awhile, because as mentioned earlier….lots of groups either don’t understand the concept of an Indian run, or just like being dicks to the people trying to run to the front and continue in a full sprint.
The Beast round 2. 6 reps, 6 islands. Each partner takes turns carrying the ball.
Merkin Shredder – Hand release merkins with a shoulder tap. (I’ve heard for a week now how bad these were, but didn’t find them to be that horrible. Perhaps they did a lot more of them in Transporters workout.) Curb plank jacks waiting for 6
Flutters. 10 reps, 4 rounds, each pax holding the ball once. For whatever reason, my team decided to take forever to get to the ground. We never quite learned that it would be easier for a guy on the far end to start and just pass in one direction. Some how a guy in the middle always started. I blame Blue Screen and Xerox, they are the oldest wisest of the bunch and should have kept us straight.
Bomb Jacks with bunny hops in between. Lets be honest – bunny hops sucks. Makes us all look like idiots. I didn’t do any of these until the last island. I used carrying the ball as an excuse, but I really didn’t want to do bunny hops. Unfortunately, Blue Screen caught up with me and asked for the ball the last island so I was forced to hop…like an idiot. Curb Peter Parkers waiting on 6.
WWII (Big Boy) Sit ups. 10 count, 4 rounds, each partner holds ball for a round.
Indian Run Slam Ball Burpee back to start. Plank movements waiting on 6.
3 team members squat in a circle and pass the ball while 4th team member runs to light and back. Rotate out until all have run. I was last to go and met up with Rudy. Both of us were confused about which light to run to (first or second). Since we appeared to be the only ones still running I decided it would be first. I challenged Rudy to race me and was not quite prepared for how quick Rudy ratcheted up the speed. I turned on the burners but it wasn’t enough. Nice push Rudy.
Circle up. One at a time give a one word goal for the year and a brief description of why. Words like leadership, work, courage, better, wife, nice, and organized were use. After a word is said and explained, the group does a merkin. Briefly interrupted by a car, but quickly back on track.
Jail Break back to start. Again, I find Rudy near me. Another Race? Yup, lets go. Rudy sprang to an early lead, but faded towards the end just enough to allow me to pass. Again, good push.
Circle up and count em off.
MOLESKIN
From Bottle Cap: We are a great group of guys, but we are also a group of guys in need. As evident (BC typed evidence) by some of the words during the new year merkin circle, each of us needs help. Lets build each other up and hold each other accountable in 2019. Happy New Year Fella’s.
Good to see Blue Screen and Eli Back
Squirts made another appearance
Hate to see Mad Dog not out there (Prayers for you my friend)
Rubbermaid with a strong 2.0 showing in Tupperware and Ziploc
From Fuse Box: A nice change of pace today with the slam balls.
Some recent new faces and some pax that have had extended absences. Keep coming out.
Squirts hates his name as much as Southern Belle but has already caught wind that a name change likely means a worse name.
Good push by Rudy today. If you’re near me during a jail break – fair warning, I like to race to make myself push harder.
Good discussion at Coffeteria today. Zinfandel taught those with Crapples how to use the space bar to zoom in on the exact place to delete or add letters. Also found out that Dunkin charges for tea refills (REALLY???!!!) I continue to be baffled that pax choose that place for coffeteria.
The usual’s were at the front of the pack today (Posse, Dana, Rudy, and myself) while the habitual slackers were the consistent 6 (Bottle Cap, Dasher, Goodfella, and Deadwood). Come on guys, you really have to step it up and work harder out there.
Thoughts and prayers with Mad Dog as he words to get his puny, Grinch sized heart fixed.
A call to action for all pax. Its the time of year for resolutions. I am blessed that for my second year in a row since joining F3, losing weight is not my resolution (I’m pretty sure for the previous 20 years it was). That being said, a lot of guys have losing weight on the list. Now is a good time to reach out to friends, family, and/or neighbors to invite them out.
Five men met in the 530 gloom on Christmas Eve for a little cheer! All were disclaimed and we took a mosey around the parking lot.
COP – IW, SSH, LSS x 15
Wheel of Merkin on the raised sidewalk x10 in each of the 4 directions.
Mosey to the track for some 4 corners work. Lap 1 was 10 merkins at each corner. Lap 2 was drydocks x 10. Lap 3 was LSS x 10 and Lap 4 was lunge x 10 each leg.
Next stop was top of the hill and we all acquired a lifting rock for curls, triceps and overhead press x 10 each. Next we ran to the bottom of the hill for dips and pull ups x 10 each. This circuit was repeated x 4.
We grabbed some wall and did air presses.
We proceeded to the parking lot and lined up. The first man called a core exercise and ran to the far light pole while the other men performed the exercise. I believe we did LBCs, Flutter, Rosalita, Freddy Mercury, American Hammer.
We finished up with suicide sprints to each of the 4 baseketball goals.
35 men joined yours truly for what would turn into one of the biggest clusters this side of Union County. I did have a solid Weinke planned today (I did Zin) but underestimated the number of PAX that would show.
Tons of gloom outside but no rain so I was ready to get it. Q Juice at 11 and it was time to rock.
Disclaimer Given… I doubt half the guys heard it.
THE THANG:
Mosey to First Watch – Big gap between front and back Pax. This was when I realized things were about to get hard. Missed the left turn to First Watch which was sad considering myself and Chainsaw cruised around for tenyyyn minutes prior.
Anyways lets circle up:
50 SSH IC
20 Merkins CC
20 Potato Picker IC
10 – 6″ plank jack IC
Plank – Calf Stretch Left over right, flap jack
Let’s mosey – The initial plan was to do 150 supines (sets of 25) and run around the building, half way around hit 50 squats – until all were completed. However it seemed a few were afraid to get a bit wet. I wasn’t sure how anyone would get wet during a supine but I’m used to the mouths during all of my Qs. Then mumble chatter about being able to get out of the actual space for the lap and….. AUDIBLE #1
Everyone knows my love of running so I shot out of a cannon due to the Q juice coursing through my veins.
Mosey to Traffic circle and the group was pretty spaced out by this point. Mountain climbers waiting on the 6. Thought I would be able to get the train back on the track at this point but things deteriorated a bit more. I attempted:
First traffic circle 5 merkins
First road to left (turns out the first “road” was an entrance not a road) 20 speed skaters each leg. Done properly this exercise will destroy the glutes.
Next road 10 burpees, maybe I said 5?
Second traffic circle 30 squats
Rinse/repeat 4x’s
The mumble chatter from the guys I didn’t really know by this point was not the typical banter. It was legit bitching and complaining. One guy said, “yes I heard you!” and another said “who picked this guys to lead?” #priceless
I had the idea to increase the number of reps after each round hoping the PAX would shut up reduce mumble chatter but it just got more confusing because of how spaced out everyone was. Regardless by round 2 we just kept it moving and powered through rounds 3 & 4.
Finally for the love of all things holy, 4 rounds were complete. Some form of planking yoga was completed while waiting on the 6. I spaced out for 10 seconds and awoke to everyone yelling, “7 minutes left DW!” Damn it.
Mosey to parking deck. I could feel several of the SOB guys light up as we approached the safe haven from the wet asphalt. It was scary out there….
Run to the top of the deck and do 5 burpees… twice. Alf made a great point by saying we didn’t have enough time to complete 2 rounds… he was right. One round complete…recover.
Head back to COT…watch out for the puddles, I would hate for anyone to get their feet wet. (Moneyball was working vicariously through the PAX today).
MOLESKIN:
Welcome Speedo to the group…as for everyone else I hate you. I’m mostly kidding. I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t just completely overwhelmed with the sheer number of PAXs there today. I had specific plans for the morning but all of that was thrown out the window when several people complained about getting moist during supines. Weak!!
Hell of a showing from my brothers in WUC, I appreciate you. Also you all probably saved me from a potential mutiny at different times with wise cracks and complaints suggestions. While we saw some confusion, that workout should have still kicked everyone’s tails. If you put the effort in you burned over 800 calories.
Any PAX in SOB or WUC that has not Qed and post often…its time to step up and see what you’re made of! It ain’t easy and sometimes down right awful…but it makes for a learning experience. We are all in this together.
See you all at my next Q, I think I have 13 in January alone. Lots of learning to be done.
Announcements:
Q Source 6:30-7 on Thursdays at Egg Up Grill – See Alf for details of www.f3nation.com
A world record 4 PAX showed up for #ClyentDinner, the only best nighttime workout in Western Union. With the new time (5:30-6:15pm) and location (Cuthbertson Middle), the hashtag was trending throughout the day on GroupMe.
MODE OF TRANSPORTATION FOR ENTIRE WORKOUT:
APPETIZER:
MAIN COURSE:
DESSERT: