Happy New Year everyone! The new year is often a time for a reset. Time to evaluate what happened the previous year and make changes, hopefully for the better. 2020 was a…different year and one that was especially challenging for many/most folks. Relationships, resolve, perseverance, motivation, drive, survival were just a few things that were tested. One thing that was a constant was this group of High Impact Men from F3 Waxhaw. In this year of turmoil, we saw our numbers grow. We created several new AOs to provide First F(Fitness) opportunities to an ever expanding geography. Though social distancing limited our abilities to hold large, indoor, Second F (Fellowship) events like the Effees or monthly lunches we stayed strong with weekly Coffeeteria and events like the Makeshift Marathon and Turkey Bowl. Even more impressive was the explosive growth we saw in the Third F (Faith) area, where little old Waxhaw has impacted people’s lives ways we won’t even know with things like: Christ’s Closet, Rice and Beans, Blood Drives, Project Hot Wheels, and many more. We say it often, but it bears repeating: “F3 is more than a workout!”
This New Year’s Day 42 men arrived on a cold, blustery, rainy morning where we experienced all five of F3 Nation’s core principles. Not sure what those are?
1. Free of Charge – We never charge for a workout. Ever.
2. Open to All Men – If you’re a guy, you’re welcome. Regardless of fitness level, age, or experience you’re welcome and encouraged to be here.
3. Held Rain or Shine – If New Year’s Day wasn’t an indication of how true this is, I don’t know what is. Conditions were pretty miserable but we pushed through.
4. Peer Led – Rotating fashion of men leading each other. You got to see that on full show on this day as depending on which workout you attended you got to see Recalculating, Brutus, Fuse Box, and YHC all taking a turn at the helm.
I’m not sure what the other groups did for a workout, but it doesn’t really matter. What matters is we ended the workout together in a Circle of Trust. It is, after all, the 5th of the five core principles.
5. Circle of Trust – Always ends with a Circle of Trust.
42 men gathered in a circle to acknowledge the completion of another step in the journey of bettering ourselves. I would invite challenge you to watch the Name-O-Rama and pay attention to the names you DON’T see. Why weren’t they there? Now is the time to reach out and check in on them. Invite them to come back out. Post with them. Encourage them.
F3 Waxhaw New Year’s Day Name-O-Rama
2021 is a new year with new challenges. Create some new habits this year and you’ll be better for it. Here are some suggestions from Bottlecap: Show up early, Pre-run, Try Ignition, Don’t modify, ask somebody if you can Q, Talk to a PAX you don’t know.
“Leave no man behind but leave no man where you found him”
Das Boot put the call out last night for a last minute substi-Q for the Body Shop and I jumped on it. I was already planning on attending and grabbing a Passport stamp, so why not, right? Besides, I’m a procrastinator and I don’t put together my weinke until the night before (or morning of) so this wouldn’t be any different. Right?
“You’ve been to this site before, haven’t you?”
Not exactly the phrase you want to hear in the middle of a Q. Well, I’ll get to that…
DiCCS provided to all, freely and lovingly. The lone MASHer, Penalty Box, informed us he’d be leaving and riding his bike at home if no one else showed up.
Warmup
It’s a bit gloomier in the gloom than usual with the fog swirling, so rather than take us down the entrance road like I planned I made a quick detour around the teacher parking lot instead, just in case Centerfold came in on two wheels per usual. Did the usual SSH, Imperial Walkers, Moroccan Night Clubs, Jimmy Dugans, and Calf Stretches while slowly moseying our way around the parking lot, back to COT, and then up the entrance road. Yeah, Penalty Box is gone. Counting off light poles we made our way to the 5th one to begin
The Thang
The idea here was to start at the middle light pole and get progressively further away. So, run to the closest light pole, do 7 Speed Skaters (2=1), run past the starting point to the light pole on the other side, do 6 Speed Skaters. Run past the starting pole and the first pole all the way to the second and do 5 Speed Skaters, and so on. Something like 2 4 6 S 7 5 3 1.
In my head it made sense. On paper it made sense. In reality it made sense, but GOOD LORD those light poles are a lot further apart than I remember. So I audibled a bit and instead our Back and Forths looked more like 4 6 S 7 5 3.
Now that might not look so different here in the backblast, but I’m sure anyone attending the workout this morning would agree that it made a big difference. The distance between the 2 and the 1 was a bit much.
Soooo…now that I’ve had the opportunity to see up close and personal how close (read: NOT close) together the light poles were, you’d think I would modify the next set of exercises accordingly. You would think wrong.
Everybody grab a lifting rock. “A lifting rock?” Yes, a lifting rock. I may be dumb and I may do a lot of dumb things when I Q, but running with rocks is NOT one of them.
So for this round we’re doing some 7s where the Down is Squats and the Back is laying on your back and doing a Chest Press.
Starting with 6 Chest Presses, put your rock OFF the road in case of cars, then run to the closest light pole and do 1 Squat. Return to your rock and do 5 Chest Presses, run to the 2nd light pole and do 2 Squats and so on.
Have you already figured out what happens next? Yeah, another audible. Those damn light poles are a long way apart. Actually, in my defense, the light poles closest to the school aren’t that far apart and I was thinking (that’s what got me in trouble; thinking) that all the light poles were that close together. Yeah, they’re not. So we audible and do the 4th set of Squats at the 3rd light pole and work our way back to the 2nd then 1st light pole. You’re welcome, everyone.
It was sometime around here that I was asked if I’d been to Body Shop before. Ouch.
Before we put our rocks away we did a little partner work too.
50 Curls, 50 Tricep Extensions, and 50 Weighted Squats as a team. One person runs the short loop around the nearest island.
Find a new partner then do 50 Kettlebell Swings, 50 Shoulder Presses, and 50 Bent Over Rows with a loop around the island.
Return your rock to the pile
Back to the starting lot and circle up.
10 Dry Docks IC, 10 LBCs IC, and 10 Lunges OYO then run the parking lot lap as specified below:
10 Merkins, 10 Big Boi Sit Ups, 10 Bobby Hurleys then run another lap in the same manner
10 Mike Tysons, 10 American Knockouts IC, 10 Bomb Jacks
Time’s up.
Moleskin
Everyone got in over 3 miles and some over 3.5 miles. Good thing the audible exists or we might still be running. It was good coming back to Body Shop. I hadn’t been in a while and I got to see a couple guys I don’t normally see. With so many sites in the Waxhaw region it’s easy to miss guys if you’re always hitting the same place over and over. I try to move around, but seeing these guys this morning is a good reminder I can do better. Get up a few minutes earlier and hit a site you don’t normally visit. Speaking of which, the Passport Challenge is nearly over. Das Boot and Chopper are neck and neck and have clearly taken the challenge to heart as they’re both head and shoulders above everyone else. Keep up the good work guys!
Announcements
Waxhaw Clean up this Saturday at 8am. Coffeeteria to follow
YHC did a lot of talking this morning with the Q, the Passport Challenge announcement, I was the 6th man, and YHC took us out
After running with the Ignition crowd yesterday I wasn’t feeling a high mileage workout today. Instead I decided to punish our arms and shoulders. A few audibles were made because I put some stupid ideas on the weinke.
FNG identified. DiCCS provided with extra emphasis on the “modify as needed” part. That was intended for the FNG but I think all took it to heart
Warmup
Quick mosey around the loop then a circle up for SSH, Imperial Walkers, Moroccan Night Clubs, Jimmy Dugans, Calf Stretches, and the Glidah Can Opener.
The Thang
Moleskin
45 Burpees, 115 Merkins (of varying sorts), plus a bunch of plank-style exercises (Mountain Climbers, In-and-Outs, and just a good ol’ Plank) mean everyone’s shoulders should be feeling pretty good right about now. Sorry if you were planning on going to Chiseled tomorrow. Mileage was right at 2, like I planned. Welcome to FNG Door Dash, thusly named due to working for Reinhart food supplier.
Announcements
Waxhaw Clean Up this Saturday immediately following the standard workouts. Coffeeteria at Crossroads AFTER
Weinke planning the night before and decided to pull out one from back in April when F3 shut down for bit. Used it for the WOD but never got the chance to personally inflict it on some unsuspecting PAX. Today was that day.
DiCCS provided then we moseyed towards the soccer fields and our ultimate destination: the pond loop.
A quick loop with a couple warmup exercises on the way was really just a chance to show the PAX the stations we’d be hitting along the way.
The Thang
The Ramp is, as the name implies, designed to start on the easier side and slowly increase the intensity. We started by doing the shorter loop and 10 reps each of Dry Docks, LBCs, and Squats. Repeato with 15 reps each.
Round 2 upgrades to the longer loop with 10 then 15 reps of Merkins, Big Bois, and Bobby Hurleys.
Round 3 is the longer outside loop and 10 then 15 reps of Mike Tysons, American Hammers, and Bomb Jacks.
Sensing the need for a bit of a reprieve we took a short break for some Mary, including Flutters, Box Cutters, and American Knockouts.
Back at it with the Final Round; a big figure eight with all reps done on the sidewalk between the ponds. For the finale we did Diamond Merkins, Jump Squats, and Burpees. 10 reps then 15.
With about 10ish minutes remaining I pulled out my handy dandy phone app with a random number generator. Setting it to dice mode I let the PAX choose the exercises as we made our way back to COT, stopping at various intersections to exercise. The PAX call cadence and the app chooses the total reps.
Back at COT we finished the remaining few minutes with some bear crawls, Lunges, broad jumps, and suicide runs.
Moleskin
Carb Load – Not only is he a Site Q for the Floater AND Blackhawk, but he’s constantly pushing me the whole time.
Rockwell – Apparently Rockwell showing up in Saturday is out of the norm (haha get it? You know, cause his name is Norm… Nevermind). You wouldn’t know it though cause he’s working hard and then went and ran the neighborhood 5k right after. Finally hit 50 but it isn’t slowing him down
Chatterbox – what a transformation! Started F3 back in July and now he’s leading 4+ mile Qs and running with Ignition. Way to go buddy!
Paper Jam – Moving down to Millbridge from SOB in the next month. It was good to meet him in person. Hopefully an announcement in the making. I’ll leave it at that as a teaser and provide details in the future
Chopper – Another SOB-land guy, Chopper was making the journey to get his Passport stamped. He’s currently in 2md place in the leaderboard and really racking up the unique AOs. If anyone is gonna catch Das Boot it’s him
YHC took us out
Hey PAX, we’re halfway through the 2020 Passport Challenge and I figured it was time for an update on the standings. But first, a reminder of what I’m talking about. The 1st F Q’s of A51, SOB, and Waxhaw put together a challenge designed to get PAX outside their normal routines/regions/comfort zones. Why? Because there’s a whole wide world of AOs and PAX you’ve likely never seen and you’re cheating yourself if you don’t at least try to get a taste. So here are the rules:
The 2020 Passport Challenge:
So what are things looking like at the moment? Check out the link for sure to see some fancy-pants bar charts that show which PAX, which AO, and which Region is currently in the lead, but if you want the quick and dirty:
Leading PAX: Das Boot with 24 unique sites!
Leading AO: 3 way tie with Firestarter, Flash, and Bushwood at 14
Leading Region: Not even close guys; Waxhaw at 184
So here’s the deal: We’re at the halfway point and maybe you’re just finding out about the Challenge. Not to worry, we accept back-dated additions to the spreadsheet, so if you know you attended a certain site or event back in November then go ahead and drop your name on the spreadsheet and put that date next to your name.
The year is nearly at an end. Let’s finish it out with a strong push! #SYITG
~Chastain, Cooter2, Madame Tussauds, Orange Whip, & Tuck
The temperature gauge read 24 degrees.
The clock read 5:23.
The parking lot at Dromedary was empty but for my own sorry self wondering if anyone else would post. Going back to bed DID sound nice as I looked at the frost covered mulch in the median next to my parking space. Then again, I already drove a million miles to the BFE that is Dromedary.
“Does anyone even live out here?”
“Who decided to put an AO out here anyways?”
“How did I agree to Q way out here on the coldest day of the year so far?”
“Why didn’t I make Premature agree to Q Diesel in exchange?”
These are the thoughts that made their way through my still half asleep brain.
The clock now read 5:24.
Headlights come into view. Aha! A reason to stay. A reason to justify my being here. A reason to…dammit it’s Ice9. There had better be some other PAX showing up…
A few more cars roll in but by the time everyone forced themselves out into the cold it was time for DiCCS. Too late to escape the cold and retreat to the warmth of the fartsack.
The clock read 5:30. Let’s mosey.
Warmup
A long mosey around the lot with a smattering of SSHs, Imperial Squalkers (a portmanteau of Walker and Squat; NOT Squawker as Ice9 griped wasn’t manly enough of a name), Moroccan Night Clubs, Calf Stretches, and Mountain Climbers.
Centerfold got there early (for him) and we picked him up along the way. Made a slight detour and grabbed Shake N Bake to round out the group to an even 8 idiots suckers PAX. Too bad I had no partner work planned. I always seem to get odd numbers when I do that…
The Thang
Jailbreak from the end of the lot towards the crest of the hill, crossing the median at the break, then alternate 5 Merkins, 5 Bomb Jacks, and 5 Big Bois at each tree for a total of 15 of each exercise on the way back down the hill. Repeato.
Mosey our way over to the lot next to the school for a little 4 Corners action where we deconstructed a Burpee. Or maybe it was 10 Burpees. 10 Squats, 10 In and Outs, 10 Merkins, and 10 Bobby Hurleys, but we do them all in cadence.
Another little mosey around the west side of the school to the first alcove. I’ve been on a bit of a Donkey Kick kick (c wut i did ther) recently, so we did some 7s. Donkey Kicks at the first alcove, a quick jaunt to the second alcove, and Speed Skaters (always 2=1) over thataway.
Back to the front lot for more 4 Corners of togetherness, only this time we did 10 Dry Docks, 10 Jump Squats, 10 Diamond Merkins, and 10 Walking Lunges (always, always 2=1). Again, in cadence because I said so.
Now we move over to the big lot and find your own little happy place along the curb.
This group is fast. Faster than I thought (hoped) so we have more time left than I thought (hoped) so we did a little repeato on the tree Merkins/Bomb Jacks/Big Bois from earlier.
A few minutes remaining so 5 Bobby Hurleys at every other tree back to COT. Audible at the top of the hill! 10 Dry Docks on the way down.
Grab some curb for some Dips IC and then some Mike Tysons IC.
The clock read 6:15.
Moleskin
I like to Q. According to Deflated’s fancy-pants website I’ve done so 36 (this’ll be 37) times this year. Some are easier. Some are tougher. Some are inventive. Some are boring. People (me included) have ribbed Zinfandel about advertising “for my xth Q” but honestly I think it’s great he’s talking about it. It’s great to have goals. It’s great to push yourself and get out of your comfort zone. It’s great to LEAD. After all, that’s a core principle of F3. It’s peer led. Recently we’ve had several vQs and that’s awesome. I missed one today at Chiseled where I’m sure Ex-LAX did a killer job. Sugar Daddy and Schnitzel were in attendance at Dromedary today and just had their vQs; both of which I attended and both of which were excellent. I guarantee it won’t be their last Qs either. If you’re reading this and you’ve never led a workout then it’s time you did. You’re ready. Talk to a Site Q. Talk to me. You won’t be on your own. We’ll help you build it, help you through it, and help you improve it for the next time.
Announcements
Rice and Beans – Helping serve meals on Wednesdays uptown – Today’s filled up, but there are openings for 12/9 and 12/16. Talk to Centerfold to sign up. M and 2.0 friendly
Painting project – You may recall the mother and kids who’s husband/father recently left and took all their things (furniture, food, everything). We’re showing them that people care and have a painting day this Saturday following morning workouts to get their house looking nice. Only a couple guys signed up right now and could use a few more. See Shop Dawg for details and to sign up.
YHC took us out
7 pax (plus 5 future FNGs) converged at the 2020 Charlotte Turkey Bowl. No Marathons or bootcamps for us. Instead we got a healthy dose of all 3 Fs, as we tossed around a pigskin, built camaraderie over hours last minute scrambling to come up with plays, and were treated to a fun filled day hosted by Unpackin’ It Ministries.
A big shout out to Blue Screen for pulling this team together. He and I have been trying to get on the same team at this even for the past few years and it finally came together. More kudos to Surge for stepping up and being our coach and co-captain after injuring his leg earlier in the week.
The Thang
Team F3 Waxhaw started a little slow out the gates and dropped our first two games. Not by much, mind you, but it was clear the talent was there and we just needed just a little time to gel after an off season with no practices. Even a dream team needs time to discover its identity.
Starting off 0-2 wasn’t how we drew it up but it just made us hungrier for our first win starting game three in the single elimination playoffs. And boy did we feast. After dropping over 30 points in our first win we found a 40 burger in win number 2!
What’s this? We’re in the championship? Phone calls start going out to the Ms saying “baby, don’t wait up”.
It was a hard fought game with a full field TD scamper by our QB Eli. But alas, it wasn’t to be and the other team took home the turkey. Not to worry though because Team F3 Waxhaw will be back next year with our sights set on revenge.
Oh yeah, Easy Button was there too, but he joined some other team so forget him.
It’s good to be new. Try out new things, visit new places, Q new sites. Thanks to One Star and Fiji for allowing me to spread my wings and run around an AO I’ve only visited once before. In case you hadn’t heard, the 2020 Passport Challenge is underway and it’s designed to get you out of your comfort zone. That is, those repeat AOs you post at every week and everybody knows your name. And no, not the Cheers bar.
This beautiful morning we had 14 pax that took a stroll around the greens of Bushwood. Eager to make a good impression, YHC sported a sleeveless shirt, complete with collar. Everyone got the DiCCS and we departed for destinations unknown.
Warmup
A quick loop around the bus lot for some SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Moroccan Night Clubs and that’s it
The Thang
Off to the neighborhood to hit the holes. The theme would become apparent pretty quickly. At the top of each road we do an exercise and at the cul-de-sac we do an exercise. They’re all OYO but I made myself clear (or at least I thought I did) there was to be no standing around and no Mary. If you’re fast (or you cheat) then you go back and pick up the six. Run with them. Do the exercises with them. Don’t wait around. That didn’t exactly happen…We’ll get to that. For those who care, here are the exercises for each road:
So when you haven’t posted at a site before, you rely on Google Maps. When you rely on Google Maps, things seem closer on the screen than they do in real life. YHC fell victim to that and had to audible a bit and cut out some planned cul-de-sacs. We eventually moseyed our way to the Arborvitae cul-de-sac and followed the trail back out to the school, but not before YHC noticed pax standing around and not going back for the six. Someone mentioned Monkey Humpers at one point and I mentioned they might make an appearance if there was any more standing around. Apparently the Bushwood crowd loves some Monkey Humpers so we worked those into the rotation.
Back to the trails, we can now see the school so the call came for a Burpee Run. You know, like an Indian Run, but the person at the back of the line does a Burpee then sprints to the front. From the woods all the way to COT I think only 2 pax did a Burpee and sprinted. No idea what happened there. Methinks mutiny. No worries.
Line up on the curb for some Suicides. To the far curb and back – 5 Burpees. Repeato with 10 Mike Tysons. Repeato with 15 Bonnie Blairs. Thanks to One Star for pointing out the expansive wall. We finished up with a few rounds of Donkey Kicks then made our way back to COT.
Moleskin
I had fun. I dunno about everyone else. The last time I posted at Bushwood was the beginning of January. That was too long of a break. I’ll be back sooner next time. Don’t forget to stamp your passports!
Announcements
YHC took us out
18 showed up for the last daylight Clyent Dinner of 2020. They were treated to a six course progressive dinner around the Cutty campus. But it didn’t stop there, this one required a little detective work to figure out where each course would take place. Fortunately we had seven 2.0s present to get us moving in the right direction.
DiCCS provided as well as special instructions for the scavenger hunt. I’ve got clues but you’re gonna have to work for them!
Warmup
Quick mosey around the starting lot then circle up for SSHs, Imperial Walkers, Moroccan Night Clubs, Plank Jacks, Calf Stretches. A nice appetizer and that earned the PAX their first clue. What is this a picture of and where would you do this activity? These kids are smart so we were off to the basketball courts. Now we’ve whet our appetites so it’s time for…
The Thang
We’re on the courts, so why not work out with some basketball players. Start with some suicide drills with Bobby Hurleys then follow that with a few Makhtar N’Diayes. Last up some Big Boy Sit-Ups and then it’s time for clue number two. This one came with a hint to get rid of the letters the spell the last exercise we did. For those following at home, the letters were BIG BOY. That left us with SHED. The kids figured out the puzzle but we needed the dads to point us in the right direction. Teamwork!
Now that we’re at Rudy’s famous shed, I instructed the PAX to sit at the shed just like Rudy would (lost on the children) so we did a wall sit with some air presses. Hop off the wall for some LBCs, then back to the wall for some Donkey Kicks. Time for the third clue. Tell you what these kids are sharp! We had an early guess of merry-go-round, but they quickly got to roundabout, so that’s where we headed.
On the way I told the PAX to partner up with someone that wasn’t in your family. Chatterbox and his 2.0 found us right as we got there so we were up to 18! Good numbers! We moseyed down one light pole away from the roundabout and then the partners took turns taking a lap around the roundabout while the other partner did AMRAP of Squats, Turkish Get Ups, Alligator Merkins, Imperial Walkers, Rosalitas, and Side Straddle Hops. One both partners have finished the first exercise then move on to the next. Once we were all finished, clue number four had already been revealed! That’s right, a very original acronym using the first letter of each exercise spelled STAIRS. Everyone was SUPER excited to travel to the covered stairs.
The original plan was to do 7s at the top and bottom of the stairs, but with such a large group I audibled to more partner work. Find a NEW partner and collectively do 50 Mike Tysons and 50 (audibled to 25) Speed Skaters while alternating running down the stairs and back up. At this point I audibled because we were running low on time and had a few more clues to get through. Speaking of which, clue number five was a cypher. I wish I had a picture of all 7 2.0s gathered around the clue sheet and collectively deciphering the code. It didn’t take long and we were off to the middle school’s front door. We took a circuitous route to get there so we could work in a bear crawl under the covered walkway, but after a few groans and moans we got through it and to the benches at the front.
One more set of partner work with another NEW partner. This time the partners collectively did 100 Dips while alternating a hot lap around the flag pole island. With 2 minutes to go the final clue was revealed! This clue was in the form of a rebus (look it up) and though it took a minute for the kiddos to figure out how it worked, they managed to puzzle it out and we made a jailbreak for the final location. The answer to the clue?? SHOVEL FLAG!
Moleskin:
This one was a ton of fun to put together. It was my first time as Q for Clyent Dinner and knowing that it regularly has 2.0s I wanted to make sure it was fun for all ages. Here are a couple of things that you missed:
On the 2nd clue that spelled SHED, I think Gerber got a little worried as the kids were figuring out the letters one at a time…First they got “S” then “H” and Gerber said something along the lines of “Uh, what are you spelling here?” Not sure what he meant…
Got a few comments about the Turkish Get Ups and why they were named such. I’d also heard them called Russian Get Ups, but SRAIRS wouldn’t have been a very helpful clue
Just like his dad, Speedbump was a little concerned with the cypher after the first letter. The kids got “F” and Speedbump says “Is this kid friendly?” C’mon guys!
Thanks Wrigley for inviting me to Q the last 2020 Clyent Dinner with a sunset ending.
Announcements:
Project Hotwheels is a go for November 7th. No more cash donations needed but could use more guys to assist
Turkey Trot 5k/10k opportunity on Thanksgiving morning – Sign up here: https://forms.gle/TTzWqoPyHVnhChoA7
CPR classes still available on November 9th and 16th from 6pm to 8pm. The cost is $15 and the proceeds go towards purchasing AEDs. See Surge (Jim Connell) for details/sign-up
YHC took us out