Monthly Archive February 2021

Don’t let anyone read this letter

15 PAX at F3 Sanctuary went against Brother Lawrence’s stated wishes and read his first 3 letters in The Practice of the Presence of God. Although the men did this with little regard for his wishes — and there’s room to winds of he’d kill if he knew — 15 came away better for it. Highlights include the reminder of the amazing grace of God, His tremendous love for us in spite of our weaknesses, the need to practice and to believe Christ, not just believe in him.

 

Romans 8:28 >>

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

 

2 Corinthians 4:17-18

17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

18 While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

 

A Mere Formality

7 pax put on some cold weather gear for a Saturday morning Commitment workout with temps around 26.  Even Recalc had sleeves on this morning.  As we are gathering in the parking lot a few minutes before 6:30, Popeye says “your first boot camp Q in quite some time”.  True from a ‘formal aspect’ although I say it doesn’t really feel like it since I have probably Q’d a gazillion mash workouts since last May.  Difference is I’m usually late half asleep as the Q goes through the DICCS and then we break-off for mash so a lot less responsibility.  This time, everyone is waiting on me to get the party rolling.

6:30 is here, lets get the Thang started–

DICCS are a little rusty but we make it through and onto a little mosey around the parking lot a quick three laps, last one running backwards and we stay with Mashers for the warmup.

  • Moroccan night clubs
  • Side straddle hops
  • Plank with some 6 inch call outs
  • Mountain climbers
  • Potato pickers

Break off from mashers, tell em we’ll be back and head over to nesbit driveway near circle.

  • At every other tree we do 2 burpees and then do 10 merkins alternating to the end by elementary school entrance
  • Mosey over to steps in between school parking lot and baseball field.  4 sets of 20 calf raises.

Mosey to parking lot by basketball hoops

  • Four corners. start with 10 squats in the center, then run over to a corner to do 20 reps and back to center. the corners exercises are Dips, Donkey kicks, LBCs and Mike Tysons.
  • Next Bear Crawl 1/3 parking lot, linebackers for next 1/3, flapjack linebackers for the last 1/3.  At end turn around, repeat the thirds back to the beginning.
  • Grab some wall.  People’s chair position, each guy counts out 10 reps going down the line (50 in total) after reps are done jailbreak across parking lot to curb and then mosey back. First set of reps is air presses, second set is air punches (ditkas), third set is hammer twists.  Ghosted smoked us showing some speed in the jailbreak!

Mosey out of parking lot towards kensington road and head back into first Millbridge entrance and back to parking lot to join the mashers with the cinder blocks

  • 30 curls
  • 30 for 30 ladder-  30 chest presses followed by 30 Gas pumps on cinder block, 25 cp w 25 rosalitas, 20 cp w 20 LBCs, 15 cp w 15 v flutters, 10 cp w 10 heels to heaven, 5 cp w 5 big boys
  • Captain Therkin webb   (1 big boy/4 amer hammers/2 merkins, 2/8/2, 3/12/2 etc…to 10/40/2)

Mosey over to circle

  • each guy calls out exercise that the others have to do it while caller runs around the circle.  We almost get through two rounds of callouts then we are out of time so head back to parking lot for COT.

 

Announcements

  • blood drive in a few hours
  • csaup waxhaw next weekend
  • rice n beans/christ closet partner event uptown on Feb 20th
  • prayers for Shop dog and his family with the recent passing of his father
  • prayers for Sledge as he starts a new job

 

So my first ‘formal’ Q in probably a year and I was able to get through with only one major glitch that I am aware of.  I forgot Name-o-rama, so we did that after the COT prayer.  It was good to be Qing a workout where the scenery changed a bit and had some more variety to chose from.  I’ve been pretty much only doing mash workouts for 8 months, and there are only so many ways to lift a cinder block and brick I have been itching to get some more running in now that my knee can handle it and get more cardio mixed into my routine.  Mash has been an awesome workout while I healed from surgery and I also got to know a handful of pax well.  Since we don’t move around much and stare at the same people for 45 minutes, we have a ton of good banter and chats while we are doing reps.  Even as some of us injured folks heal up and start mixing back in with other boot camps, I know Mash is in good hands.  Many others have stepped up and and are leading the workouts plus there are always pax coming to the IR (some for second and third ir stints!) so its very much needed as well.  And even when I get back to 100%, the mashers can’t get rid of me forever.

 

 

 

 

Roosters have Shoulders too!

12 PAX put the petal down at Ignition on a surprisingly warmer than expected mid-30s morning.  With The Rooster officially being announced for mid-March (1 mile relay team event), YHC has been plotting how to get more PAX involved and how to get the training started.

COCKA-

  • DCCS with emphasis on headlamps since we are venturing out of the chicken coop
  • Warmup Way too fast of a mosey to front of high school for various exercises IC (in cadence)
  • Mosey to high school/Champion Forest with warning to slow it down as PAX will need some energy

DOODLE-

  • The Rooster training begins
    • Timed 1 mile from entrance of CF to end of cul-de-sac
  • Runners need some shoulder muscles to intimidate the other Roosters
    • T-Tap Merkin Mile
      • Run back to entrance stopping at all 20 lights
      • 5 T-Tap Merkins (hand release with arms out wide, push up to plank, tap both shoulders

DOO!

  • Mosey to High School stairs for 4 stops for 10 BombJacks and 10 Knee-ups
  • 2 Rounds of Mike Tysons and Scorpion Dry Docks (one leg up) while the Flash crew made fun of our arms admired our new Rooster Shoulders
  • Triple Nickel
    • 10 Mike Tysons at stairs
    • 10 Column Merkins at Middle School portico
  • Finish with some sprints around the front of school

ROOSTER RAP-UP

  • Ghosted made his first appearance at Ignition . . . The dude is crushing it.  He told me today that his plan is to add one workout per week each month.  Love the planning and the conviction to stick with it.
  • Nice work by Mad Dog getting out of his comfort zone and posting at Ignition as well . . . Part of me thought he was just coming to inspect the headlamps situation but he stuck with us the entire time
  • Love seeing Chastain at some different workouts . . . He is fast and good to have around for the mumblechatter
  • Carb Load and Ice9 epitomize how to attack the 1st F . . . Get after it early, Go all out until you can’t, Puke if needed, and then empty the tank at the end . . . I genuinely love having you guys at any workout I attend cuz I know the PAX will be pushed
  • CONFESSION:  I don’t do a lot of CSAUP/Spartan-type races.  There is a list of excuses ranging from not wanting to get injured, not wanting to pay money to get beat up, too busy with other commitments, etc.  However, I am coming around on the idea of participating in different events.  In the ones that I have done, I have realized that the fellowship and connection are VERY important and far outweigh the excuses.  AND, I am becoming more physically and mentally stronger as I’m preparing for these events.  One example is Wolverine’s Virtual Running League that he roped a few of us into last year.  I don’t like running but when doing it as a group, it was fun and all of us got WAY faster and WAY more fit.  Not to mention, I am WAY closer to the guys on a personal level now (in fact, 5 of us are in a shield lock group now . . . Mad Dog you better start running more).  MY POINT?  Doing some hard things you typically don’t do can change your life for the better.  So commit now to the Wax-Travaganza this Saturday!  And The Rooster on March 13th.  

Prayers for the family of Double Trouble, Metro PAX who lost his battle with COVID this week

Flash in the pan

Warm Up  Mosey to High School entrance.  Stretching, Moroccan night clubs, Imperial Walkers, Mt. Climbers.

The Thang  Grab a bench.  20 Step Up’s, 20 Derkins, Repeat.

Mosey to entrance of HS parking lot.  Run perimeter to stadium, 1 Burpee at every light.  Continue to bus lot, 10 speed skaters at every light.  Continue to HS Gym entrance.  Grab wall and a partner.  P1 runs down to the road, does burpee at steps and back to wall.  P2 does exercise.  As a team, complete the following:  150 Donkey Kicks, 100 Shoulder Taps, 50 Mike Tysons.

Mosey to YHC’s shed.  Run down the path, every other light, stop and bear crawl 40 paces.  Continue all the way down the path to parking lot.  Turn around and run back down path to YHC’s shed.  At every other light post, 10 low slow squats.  Turn around and run back down path to parking lot/COT.  At every other light, 5 merkins.

Moleskin  Great push by all.  YHC took us out.  Prayers for Metro pax who succumbed to Covid.  CSAUP  on 2/6 – downtown Waxhaw.

A triumphant return

6 men assembled at the new (old) AO for Swole for our Monday beatdown.  Once again rain threatened, the PAX called it’s bluff and the rain folded.  It went down like this:

WU:  SSHx20, IWx20, Sharon Towersx10, Arm Circles forward and back x 10

Strength:  10 rounds of 1 DCL & DMP

Complex #1:  10 rounds of “The Voodoo”(patent pending) EMOM

1HS, High Pull, Snatch, Clean, Squat and Press both L and R each minute

Complex #2:  “The Goshawk” – walk 20M with your bell in Farmers Carry, 8 goblet squats – repeat 8 times

Easy Strength:  2 rounds of

5 Double deal lifts

5 Presses – alt L and R or doubles

5 Lawn Mower each L and R

5 Snatches – L and R

Core:  40 seconds on and 20 off for:

Plank

Deadbugs / Dying Cockroach

Bear Crawl Leg Extensions

Prone arm switches

Prone W->Y arm extensions

Moleskin:

  • New month, return to the old AO for Swole now that some of the corporate types at Invue have returned to find us squatting (literally) in the parking lot.  YHC lost track of time as we all figured out the new arrangements and we started a minute late
  • The Worm seems to be adding equipment to further weigh down his vehicle – welcome to the “It takes multiple trips to the trunk to unload” club
  • Might Mite continues to over achieve on the first set – never happy with the single or double reps. He also kept YHC honest on end time which definitely had nothing to do with the unusual core exercises today
  • Frehley’s showed off some old man strength today with double presses of bells that each weigh close to his age
  • Not to be outdone, Voodoo did the Goshawk rack style rather than goblet squats – way harder
  • Wild Turkey seems confused about Wednesdays and Mondays and is combining his ruck and KBs into some new hybrid workout. Expect to see him on The Mirror anytime soon
  • Musical stylings were a mix of primarily upbeat blues today – inspired in an odd way by Phineas and Ferb season 1, episode 22 “Dude, We’re getting the bank back together”

Announcements

  • Might Mite is looking for blood donors – 2/19 – sign up
  • Frehely’s is selling some new workout on Friday’s right after the Brave at the same AO

FOUR-ways and Flatulence

About FOUR weeks ago I reached out to Chopper and asked if he would be open to co-Q #Firestarter and #The Maul.  If you know Chopper, then you know he was up for just about anything. We reached out to the Site Q’s; Teddy, Wingman, PatentPending an MadameTussauds.  They moved a few Pax out of the way politely asked if we could take the Q.  The significance?  Glad you asked… Myself and Chopper were FNGs on February 1st 2017 (4 years ago TODAY) and our first AO was The Maul (Wednesday) Yep – we’re back in action Wednesday, so don’t delay, set your alarm now.

We’ll save the why F3, how have you grown over the last 4 years, how did you get your F3 name, etc. for some quality 2nd F, later this week – more on that below.

The Thang –

So as mentioned above this was a split Q – I (Fredo) took the lead on the first half of the workout:
Brief Disclaimer – 13 somewhat veteran gents, and a quick PS: FOUR Merkins at every stop sign regardless of direction (mumble chatter followed…)
Mosey up towards 131 Main –  and immediately hit with a stop sign (4) merkins – mosey a few feet (4) merkins, and so on for at least six octagonal speed bumps before getting to 131.

COP
–         SSH x 40
–         4 plank jacks in cadence
–         Imperial walker x 40
–         4 plank jacks in cadence
–         LSS x 20 (some relief was apparent when i stopped at 20)
–         4 plank jacks in cadence
–         Lungs in cadence x 20
–         4 plank jacks in cadence
Mosey out of 131 down the hill – Luckily no one noticed or my poker face is better than I thought…I lead the men straight through a mind field of Four-Way stop signs… 16 merkins at each. Little did they know the four-ways were all part of the grand scheme.

Mosey around to back of Target
–         Street lights… some were off – but if they were gas lamps, we could have LIT them up
–         Run up two, 4 Big Boys
–         Run back one, 4 Monkey Humpers
Grab some wall
–         Sevens  at this point I was starting to eat into Chopper’s half of the Q so I improvised a little.
–         1 Mike Tyson / 6 Donkey Kicks Four Mike Tysons and Four Donkey Kicks
–         2 Mike Tysons / 5 Donkey kicks

Mosey around to Blakeney Heath
Chopper:
Quads up hill and back
–         Bottom do x 4 squats
–         Top do x 4 lungs (ea leg)
–         Repeat x 4

Mosey to Blakeney – Down by the stairs in the middle-ish – several stop signs were passed, some were honored, and reduced sentences were handed out. Thank Chopper for the reduction…
–         Grab some wall / peoples chair
–         40 arm raises in cadence
–         Shake it out /back to peoples chair
–         40 punches OYO
Check time

Back to start
–         Mary plus FOUR hand release burpees (for good measure)

Done

Moleskin:

– Great group of men today, fortunately the stop signs also helped keep the Pax together. Squeezed in a little mary here and there at the signs too. Thankfully PointBreak kept me honest and I didn’t get too crazy with the numbers. Midriff requested a merkin count and later landed on 144 – sounds about right (as planned). Chopper gave everyone a break on the way back down, I heard PaperJam’s mumblechatter die down about that time too.

– Sweetwater and I have known each other for ten or so years, finally got to one of my Qs, probably because I showed up to his VQ – great add to the Pax.  Trickle and BigBen were relatively quiet out there except when we got to the MonkeyHumpers – BigBen earned his namesake with some rather loud flatulence… several others joined in.  Sunday dinner must be a good thing in SOB and Waxhaw.

– Teddy has done a great job promoting #Firestarter (another guy helps, can’t recall who Teddy’s wingman is though).  Must be hard to turn down that easy going smile… speaking of smiles – TinyTeen TanyaTine (received some feedback), I need to know more about this F3 nickname please. Great to see a bunch of Waxhaw guys mixed in with SOB.  If you haven’t yet, check out the two workouts Wed/Fri at Marvin HS. Thats where I met Noonan and BigBen. Noonan can deliver a beat down with the best of them.  Great to see Smuggler and Fiji out today too.  When I saw the White Jeep, I knew it would be a good morning.

COT –

Thanks for the take out Chopper and the comradery, support and friendship over the last four years.

Announcements – ICYMI – Chopper and me have another set of FOURS prepared for you at #TheMAUL – the original OG site.

WAXTRAVAGANZA – https://f3southcharlotte.com/2021/01/07/waxtravaganza-wxw-csaup/  (This will be tough and FUN.  great Second F opportunity immediately following.

If running isn’t your thing, DaVinci is doing their F3 Shovel Flag unveiling this Saturday at 6:30 – Fun is sure to follow.

BLOOD DRIVE – you know the drill

See you all Wednesday!  Thank you for the opportunity to Lead.

Fredo and Chopper

 

Extreme Ownership – Check The Ego

After doing F3 Q Source for 2 years on Mondays, the Monday post Asylum crew decided we still wanted to hang around for some fellowship with some learning sprinkled in.  We decided to venture out to a different leadership books with Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin being our first one to tackle.  So why a 2nd F backblast about it?  Because Shop Dawg challenged us a few weeks go to create more FOMO to help draw some guys in.  He said “Guys need this, whether they realize it or not, and it is our job to help them realize it”.  So without further ado….Check the Ego.

 

For those unfamiliar with Extreme Ownership, the book’s chapters are basically broken down into three parts.  A War Story that tee’s up a principle, then the principle is explained, and then a business example where that principle wasn’t used.   The war stories are great – and I cringe saying that.  But the writing is phenomenal and it really puts you right there in the middle of the battle field.  Whether its a tank ready to unload on what they thought was an enemy position only to find out they were friendlies, or its a mission to capture high level targets in the middle of one of the highest casualty cities during the Iraq War.  The book really does a good job of putting you in the battle field and setting the table for the lesson that is about to be taught.

The book also has several familiar Q Source principles as well.  Mainly pass praise and take the blame, but today we also covered the need to be accelerating and why staying stagnant is bad (decelerating).  Any way, here are my notes from leading today along with some of the examples given.

 

  • What is Ego? (Examples given by the group)
    • Cocky.
    • You think you’re better than everyone
    • Can’t take constructive criticism
    • Your too good to fail or slip up
  • The war example dealt with an special forces unit tasked with training new Iraqi soldiers.  They arrived to the joint army/marine base with an ego and cockyness that quickly went south.  They didn’t conform to base culture.  They talked down to other soldiers.  They wouldn’t share battle plans or positions.   In short, their ego’s were in the way.  And eventually it cost them their jobs.  They were sent packing by the base commander as they were doing more harm than good.  Task Force Bruiser (Jocko’s Navy Seals) did the opposite.  They cut their hair, made sure uniforms were pressed and neat, and intentionally built comradery with fellow soldiers.   The result was an elite base, a better trained Iraqi unit, and an eventual turning of the war.
  • A quote from Jocko that I found impactful “But I tried to temper that confidence by instilling a culture to never be satisfied”.  I tied this in with F3’s always be accelerating point from Q Source.
  • Traits of those who check their ego:
    • Continuous Improvement
    • Humility and Mutual Respect
      • I gave my personal example of having to call on folks from the warehouse level all the way up to the Senior VP level and how the Warehouse guy can cost me just as much business as the Senior VP can give me.
        • Further discussions involved Walt Disney and how he connected with his employees and was willing to do it all around the park – including helping to clean toilets.
  • Don’t let your ego take precedent over doing what is best to accomplish the mission.
    • Lots of discussion around this.  Sometimes as men we let our pride or our own goals get in the way of the greater team mission.
      • Loafer with a couple Kohls examples.
  • The business example given in the book centered around a mid level manager and a supervisor who worked for him on an oil rig.  The supervisor made a spur of the moment decision to change the process which cost about 2 days of work.  In the oil industry 2 days equals hundreds of thousands of dollars.   The manager was dreading the confrontation that was going to happen when he went to this supervisor.  But Extreme Ownership reverses the roles.  The supervisor is not to blame.  It is you as the manager that did not equip him with enough information to make the right decision.  When you go to the supervisor and explain how you failed, how you will be better about giving him the right information and tools to make the right decision, it changes the conversation.   It is a conversation instead of a screaming match.
  • Summary: Extreme Ownership requires checking ego, admitting mistakes, and having humility.
    • Confident not cocky, never too good to fail, and never complacent.

 

26° in Marvin is warmer than you might expect

6 PAX came out to support Polly’s AO while he’s in recovery and Friday’s 26 degrees was surprisingly more comfortable than Thursday’s 33 in biting wind. The crew kept a brisk pace and discussed GME, COVID recovery, the no-way thought of running Myrtle Beach in May, potential for COVID litigation and other deep and smartly conversations. Only a couple wore tights, while the others were braver than the rare overdressed-YHC.

It was a good day to be at Marvin Miles.