Juggling is Not That Hard
Five men of purpose and a member of FIA gathered at AG for activities with the kids. It was a different experience as many of the kids chose to attend an AG basketball game and thus we had a much better volunteer to student ratio.
The Thang:
Learn to juggle – YHC provided step by step instruction on how to juggle. This was a good excercise to teach the kids persistence. One boy was juggling three objects (nothing on fire or anything like that #disclaimer) within 15 minutes. Others needed encouragement to keep practicing as they looked like Dredd trying to bear crawl #krptonite. Tryon got all the way up to juggling one ball while Barracuda promised to wear a red nose and juggle chain saws next time.
Puzzle quiz – Determine how many squares were in a box drawn on a piece of paper (big box with many smaller boxes drawn inside). Correct answer was 40 although Tryon cliams his kid came up with 46 and has filed a protest with the AG principal. I think Barracuda is still working on his.
Hand-cuff game – Created a rope “handcuff and “locked” two kids together. They had to figure out how to get “unlocked” (#houdini). One pair figured it out but the others had to walk to the bus together since they were still entangled when the bell rang. Hope the parents don’t mind.
Next up – Tryon has Q next week followed by Backup and Senior Chips/Barnabus after that.
Christmas Comes Early at AG Middle School
Seven men of purpose #impact joined friends and teachers to celebrate an early Christmas party with the kids in the after school program at AG Middle School. Thanks to the generosity of F3 Nation and a contribution from the F3 Foundation, we were able to provide a simple meal, a present, and a book fro each kid. It was amazing to see the big smiles on many of the kids faces. The joy of Christmas was seen all around on this day.
The Thang:
Eat, grab a book and a present. Enjoy time to together.
Oscar and Barnabus helping the kids select a book.
Rev Florida and a student having a chat
JENGA is back
Ellen, Barnabas, and Laura ready to hand out water to the kids
Excited about the party maybe?
Barnabus and Oscar trying to figure out if “Moby Dick” is too hard (pun intended) for them.
Leroy and FOD with some kids
NM
Special thanks to Barnabas for arranging the food, Leroy and Ellen Babb for helping with the presents, my co-worker for getting the books (for free), and Tryon for being the official photographer. All your help made this a great event.
F3 Nation should know that the kids really appreciate our gifts and time. Several expressed sincere thanks. One kid when asked why he was not eating said he wanted to take it home and share. Luckily we were able to give him some extra food to take home. It shows that these kids have love and compassion in their hearts and makes me proud of what F3 is doing at this school.
Announcement
We start back on January 8th and invite men interested in our work to contact me at pchepul@gmail.com. With over 70 kids in the program, we can use all the help (and ideas) we can get. There are also opportunities to tutor Monday thru Wednesday if Thursday does not work for you.
Mr. Q – I think you missed a count
Nine men, undeterred by the hour or the temperature, gathered at CCHS for the weekly weekend down painment at Centurion
The Thang:
Jog to small lot for COP
- SSH X10 – 10 burpees OYO
- Merkins X9 – 9 burpees OYO
- Squats X7 – 7 burpees OYO
- Jumping lunges X8 – 8 burpees OYO (PAX can thank Jamboree for catching my poor math skills/forgetfulness)
- Flutter X15 – 6 burpees OYO
Job to aquatic center for bear crawl triple nickel – bear crawl up, 5 burpees, run back down, 5 jump squats, repeat 4 more times (with crab walk on last set)
Jog to entrance to football field for 3 man team event – jump rope, rock work, and jogging.
Man 1 stays at start and jumps rope while man 2 and 3 jog to other end zone (behind construction zone – parking deck construction starts after school breaks for holiday) where man 2 does rock curls, OH presses, and tricep extension, while man 3 completes run around stadium. Continue to circuit until everyone has done two trips.
Jog over to parking lot and line up for the Beast (6-6-6 except we ran out of time and finished at 5th round). Six stops with six single count of called exercise.
- Round 1 – merkins
- Round 2 – squats
- Round 3 – jumping lunges
- Round 4 – LBC
- Round 5 – burpees (of course, and they sucked. Champagne would have lost his voice complaining about form on this round #churpees)
Two minutes of mary with dolly and heels to heaven before clock ran out.
Naked moleskin:
Small PAX that pretty much stayed together (meaning everyone hit it hard and no SIX). A few Larry Birds during the Beast (Jamboree one round, CP one round, Dear Abbey one round, Maverick and About Time 1 or 2 rounds but they don’t really count given how young they are – may not even know who Larry BIrd is). Scabby, Margo, and Jamboree all ran in for some pre-work warmup of 1-2 miles but no KB this am – a tad chilly I guess. Leroy was stronger than I thought given a few week break from F3 but his early am work with a neighbor (still working that EH for 2 years now) must be paying off. Dear Abbey can bear crawl with the best of them.
95 burpees total – ouch
Check Point needs to give a class on how to get a teenager up at 5am to workout and I’ll sit in the 1st row. #strong.
The PAX was hoping I wouldn’t catch my math errror early but Jamboree never takes a short cut – we circled back and did the 8 OYO burpees that I originally missed. Even if we had not corrected the math I think everyone got their money’s worth (oh wait – F3 is free).
As always it was an honor to lead this am.
Announcements:
Joe Davis on January 10th and Brain Cancer race at Marshal Park on March 21. Sign up for JD via link on F3 home page and link to for BC race is under “Forums – Events and Races” on the web site.
Signed up Scabby to Q 12/26 and Dear Abbey for 1/2. Here is link to schedule if anyone interested – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0As1NwA4TIzNxdFZGQmplZHBIMTBwNlN3a2FVY2tKTEE&usp=drive_web#gid=0
GIANT JENGA – Tryon Hits Grand Slam at AG Middle School
Nine men of purpose and over 30 young boys gathered for a game of GIANT Jenga (considering sumbission to Guinness book of world record for largest Jenga game ever)
The Thang:
Circle up (figuratively) with the boys. First item of business was for Backup to show the kids the Billingsville shovel flag and let them know he would make a shovel flag for them with a design they created. Barrcuda explained why F3 has shovel flags. On the fly, we selected one of the boys who stepped up to lead the design effort #futureleader.
Main event – Tryon and his 2.0 Paige arrived early to set up the Giant Jenga sets and we divided the boys into four teams.
- First activity was to knock down the tower and work together to re-assemble with a member of the PAX providing guidance. All the teams did a great job of working together to re-assemble.
- Next was the main event – play the game to create the tallest tower by removing pieces from tower and stacking on top. Each team member rotated and all four teams did a great job of staying focused on the task at hand with assistance from a member of the pax (Cadilac – Team 1, Senior Chips – Team 2, Barracuda – Team 3, and David Price – Team 4). Team 3 was the winner.
T-claps to Barnabus for being the event photographer.
Not only did Tryon lead this effort, he (or more likely his 2.0) created the awesome video. Cannot give him enough props for the idea and the follow thru on this activity. He set the bar really high for the rest of us (#ISIS). Rev Florida has next week and everyone knows he has the creative talents to make a run at the bar Tryon set.
Announcement – Please consider making donation to F3 Foundation (go to Foundation page at F3nation.com for pay-pal link) to support holiday parties at Billingsville and AG Middle School.
Pavers IX – The Series Continues at Regal Cinemas
Ten of F3’s finest ignored the temptation of the fartsack and met at Regal Cinemas for another round of the Chelms brick series (way past trilogy).
The Thang:
COP for warm up with SSH X30, Diamonds X20, Stagger right X10, Stagger left X10, mountain climbers X20, and slow squats X15.
Partner up with two coupons per team – jump rope and large paver
Ciruit work
- Partner 1 runs with paver down to 4th light and back while partner 2 jumps rope and then flapjack. Round 2 to 3rd light and round 3 to 2nd light.
- Partner 1 does 30 curls while partner 1 jumps rope and then flapjack. Round 2 with overhead presses to 30 and round 3 with tricep extensions to 30
Seventeens (stolen from Lee) – Run loop around parking lot that approximates 400M with stops at each corner for merkins and jump squats. Corner 1 – 16 merkins and 1 jumpt squat, etc for sixteen stops (4 laps) ending with 1 merkin and 16 jump squats. Plank waiting on the six.
Circuit work round 2
- Partner 1 runs with paver down to 4th light and back while partner 2 jumps rope and then flapjack. Round 2 to 3rd light and round 3 to 2nd light.
- Partner 1 does 20 squats/overhead presses while partner 1 jumps rope and then flapjack. Round 2 with curls to 30 and round 3 with tricep extensions to 30
COP for 3 minutes of mary with dolly, flutter, rosalita, and boat/canoe.
Naked moleskin:
Appreciate the opportunity to Q at a new location. I really like smaller groups and the PAX today was great. Strawberry helped keep my “team” out front on the circuit work and Teddy was pushing me on the 17’s. Rip Curl (Respect) continues to push it hard every time he’s in a PAX with me. Madame Tussaud shold learn to respect his elder and keep his comments about my form to himself.
Decided to go with larger paver and team concenpt to break up the time with the paver. Next time there will be 2 smaller pavers per man for comparison (I think 2 per man is harder because you carry the entire workout versus switching off). Unlike most sequals, I think this one was pretty good.
Announcements:
Start thinking about spring mud run team and training plan. It’s time a team from Area 51 competes for the busted paw.
Joe Davis memorial run on January 10. See F3 home page for link to sign up.
Race to raise funds for brain cancer on March 21 in Marshal Park downtown. Please consider joining Team Chepul Hill in support of my younger brother who is battling Stage IV brain cancer. Link under “Races and events” under “Forum” and a pre-blast coming in January.
As always, it was an honor to lead such a great group. I am blessed.
F3 Storms AG – In the afternoon
Ten men of purpose and 1 2.0 gathered at AG for some #impact with approximately 30 young men at Bull Dogs Matters after school (one brave soul agreed to assist two female friends in conducting some team building with the girls – real men aren’t afraid of teenage girls).
Cadillac divided up the boys into teams of four for some competition for milky ways, M&M’s, Twix, and other goodies. Each team of four boys had to decide which team member was assigned to each identifier provided by Cadillac (longest, fastest, tallest, etc). The teams competed in each round with the winner getting 3 points, 2nd place getting 2 and 3rd place getting 1. Team with most points at the end got to select from prizes in Chelms “ruck sack” (sounds cooler than book bag).
Round 1 – Tallest thumb, fastest crab walk, most hand release merkins, and highest jump
Round 2 – Fastest suicide runner, longest foot, most burpees, longest coin spinner
We ran out of time due to late start but Cadillac will surely return to Thunder dome soon. Special note – Chelms team won but I didn’t take any candy.
The kids had a great time and it was a great turnout by the men of F3. I feel blessed to have such great men venture into unknown territory but know the kids at AG will benefit from our involvement.
Special shout out to David Price for agreeing to lone wolf it with the females. Not really combat duty but tough in any case.
CALL OUT – I’m looking for other PAX to lead a Thursday. Tryon is working on giant Jinga and Rev Florida has the play book to find some ideas. Let me know if interested in leading and I’ll be glad to help. This would be a GREAT mentor/mentee event.
No Haggis, No Bricks, No Problem
With our fearless site leader out, the virtual shovel flag was planted and 17 of F3’s finest shook off the Panther lose and met in the gloom for their weekly dose of Centurion. The clock hits 5:30 and Haggis is not to be found so off we go with YHC making it up as we go (like I do even when I know if have the Q).
The Thang:
Jog to small parking lot for COP
SSHX20, 10 hand release burbees OYO (HRBOYO), MC’sX20, 9 HRBOYO, Peter ParkersX20, 8 HRBOYO, Slow SquatX20, 7 HRBOYO, Wide arm merkinsX15, 6 HRBOYO, jumping lunges 20 total movements, 5 HRBOYO
Jog to pool parking lot for triple nickle with merkins at top and squats at bottom
- Round 1 – bear crawl
- Round 2 – crab walk
- Round 3 – bear crawl
- Round 4 – crab walk
- Round 5 – burpee broad jump
Jog to shopping center at corner of Carmel and 51 for Jamboree special – run the steps with 11 HRBOYO at the top, 10 in the lot and keep running the circuit going down the ladder to 1 (6 total trips – switched to flying squirrels at 7)
6MOM – low dolly, high flutter, Freddie Mercury, low flutter all X20
Jog to tables at front of school for step ups, dips, derkins
- Round 1 -10 of each
- Round 2 – 10 of each
- Round 3 – 15 of each
- Round 4 – 20 of each
Naked moleskin:
A few of the new guys didn’t know what a Haggis is and were not sure he/it really exists (only 1/3 of Americans visiting Scotland believe it) but will have to wait for the next time to confirm as we headed out without our man on site. Hoping he is ok and just had too much fun watching the American version of football.
Frasier and Checkpoint were out front for the stair work but I’m not going to give them a Larry Bird since they are not the slow like LB. I would have given them a LB if they had lapped me.
Mermaid gets the big brick next time for pointing out that Abacus beat me in the triple nickle (#motivation for next time – never let your little brother beat you). Abacus is getting stronger and faster so not as easy as it was a year ago.
Lots of new faces to Centurion this am – great to see you guys and hope you got your money’s worth (even with a substitute Q). Strong effort by all.
Announcements:
Joe Davis memorial run. See F3 Nation home page for pre-blast and link to sign up. Double down opportunity with 10k and 5k separated by 30 minutes so you can do both.
Tutoring started up and we can always use help. Contact me at pchepul@gmail.com if interested in learning more. Otherwise, find another way to make #Impact either by helping out in other efforts or starting something up on your own #starfish, #reverseflow #ISI
Please remember to bring old shoes next week.
As always, it was an honor to lead such a great group this am
Finally a Good Suggestion (at least the first one YHC has followed)
The shovel flag was firmly planted and 22 of S Charlotte’s finest got up early for a downpainment on the weekend.
The Thang:
Warm-up – SSHX20, Squats X10, Freddie Mercury X20
The Murph – Run 1 mile, 100 pull ups, 200 merkins, 300 squats, run 1 mile back
That is all – simple but effective
Naked Moleskin
Our fearless site leader, still nursing a sore ankle, handed over the reins at like 9pm last night. As I had just Q’d Hydra and still had bricks in my trunk I figured why not just double down and use again. Unlike the evil thoughts that normally eminate from Purple Haze, he quickly suggested I leave the bricks in the trunk. Knowing PH is wise beyond his years, I obliged (for once – may not happen again so savor the moment).
TR laid down a challenge for the men of Centurion on Twitter so we will see where it leads. Interesting how it got laid down the day before a new workout (the “Brave”) depleted several of our stars. No matter, we will reload (#starfish) and be stronger than ever.
The Murph limits mumble chatter but maximizes effort if youi want to finish in 45 minutes. The PAX pushed hard but I noticed we need to figure out how to get pull ups into our routine more often – alot of Australian rules pull ups this am (YHC quilty as charged – kryptonite)
Announcements:
Escargot is site Q for the shoe drive. Please bring 1 (or more) pair of used men’s athletic shoes for donation to use at the Charlotte Rescue Mission.
Joe Davis memorial run set for Januay 10 (https://joedavisrun.racesonline.com/home). Please spread the word and sign up.
Hops took us out with a great prayer. Thanks for including our brother BIll. He is doing great and I am confident our prayers are a big part of this.
Bricks are HEAVY
17 of South Charlotte’s finest ignored of the call of the fartsack and gathered in the gloom for some brick work.
The Thang – Grab two bricks from Q’s truck and head out
COP
- SSH X20
- Squats X20
- Man maker merkins X20
- John Travolta (with brick) X10 each arm
Ladder of burpees and push presses – 1-5 burpees and 5-25 push presses
Mosey to baseball field for 9 “innings” – half group runs a lap around outfield and half perform called exercise
- Man maker merkins
- Freddy Mercury
- Turkish get-ups
- One legged squats
- One legged squats – opposite leg
- Squats
- Joker call – low flutter?
- RS call – six inches (what?)
- Burpees (group two conveniently did not hear me _ I think)
Mosey to playground for another ladder – 1-5 pull ups and 5-25 push presses
Mosey to field for final ladder – 5-10-15-10-5 man maker merkins with sprint down and back in between
COP – 3MOM with low dolly, Rosalita, and something else (I think)
Naked Moleskin
Someone got it right when they noted how heavy those little pavers can be after a few push presses. Q was disappointed no one else (Joker particularly) grabbed the other “special” F3 brick. Joker was Larry Bird all morning so I’ll make sure he gets a special brick next time.
Good push by the entire PAX as running with 2 bricks is harder than you might think by just looking at those innocent looking things in the trunk.
Annonouncements:
All sites are gatheing old shoes for Charlotte Rescue Mission. I have not been to Saturday am workout there (9am) but Rev Florida swears it is special. Check out web site for past backblasts
Tutoring has started up so contact me if interested (pchepul@gmail.com)
As alwasy, it is a privilege to lead such a great group. I highly recommend it for anyone that has not yet led. Don’t worry, few Q’s have more fails then me.
Trips for Kids – Round 4
Four members of the PAX and 12 (or so) kids met at Francis Beatty park for another morning of mountain bike riding with Trips for Kids and kids from the Bull Dogs Matters program. Several loops around the partk and #10,000 fails demo by Chelms made for a great morning. The pax encourged the kids to challenge themselves on some harder trails and all responded. It was great to witness their laughter and thrill as they mastered some of the more difficult areas.
Farside once again met the kids and program director and helped get them to the park. He is great with the kids and constantly encourages them to push harder.
Frasier demonstrated his mastery of bike maintenance and helped Chelms get back on the course after a flat tire so he could promplty wreck on the jump at Alligator alley. No ambulence was needed and the wounds will quickly heal #oldmencantjumpwithbikes.
Next ride will be in the spring.