As usual, the best AO in South Charlotte (including SOB – ie The Brave) on Friday morning had 20 strong, including 6 Respects. No Hate Hate’s this morning – guess they thought a birthday party for an old man would be boring (easy) – shows how little they know. This one hurt but that may be because YHC stayed up late last night and had a few toddy’s at dinner.
The Thang
COP – SSH X15, Merkins X15, Mtn Climbers X15, 5 burpees (good thing we warmed up in parking lot – Runstopper roles in just as we are starting burpess). He’ll need a doctors note next week for his tardiness.
Mosey across 51 to Palentine for The Cross. Start at top and go down one side for 10 of called exercise, back up for 1 burpee, down next side for 10 of called exercise, back up for 2 burpees, down 3rd side for 10 of called exercise, back up for 3 burpees, down 4th side for 10 of called exercise, and back up for 4 burpees. Keep repeating up the ladder. Originally called for ladder to 12 but years of training (10,000 fails) prompted me to audible to 8 (except Marconi and Swiper didn’t hear me so they get some extra credit). Exercises were merkins, jump squats, mountain climbers, and knee ups.
Mosey back to the tables in front of the school for quick circuit work of 10 and then 15 step-ups, dips, and decline merkins.
Over to fence along side of football field for next ladder. 5, 10, 15, 20 Dragon Flys at bottom and 5, 10, 15, 20 wall merkins at top of deck.
Back to parking lot for a few minutes of Ring of Fire to run out the clock.
Naked Moleskin
Combination of heat, wet hill, and slope of Palentine made this one tough. Would have gone to 12 on The Cross except the M birthday party last night had me dragging a little bit. Two of our Respects, Marconi and Checkpoint were out front on The Cross, along with Brilleaux, while I’m pretty sure Swiper skipped a segment or 3. Just wish he had passed on the fart – smelled like a cat crawled up his rear and died. Mr. Brady warned the pax early enough such that we were able to create some space.
LIkewise, the Dragon Fly/Wall Merkin ladder on the deck was a grind. The stairs were really starting to burn on the last set – hell even on the first set. Tolkein gave us a lasting gift when he introduced the Dragon Flys to Centurion a few weeks ago.
YHC stayed in front of the “younger” brother (Abacus) today but tax season just ended so I”m sure he’ll be pushing me soon.
Welcome to The Wall and Wrinkle – I think you guys are site FNG’s.
Left the Fruit Cake (ie pavers) at home this am but Udder didn’t seem disappointed.
Announcements
We wrap up the “Augean Series” (also know as the load of crap) next week with Hairball on Q. Should be lots of “fun”.
Contact me (pchepul@gmail.com) if you are interested in mentoring disadvantaged boys and helping with our ministry. We are organizing weekend outings where PAX share their interests and we are open to all kinds of activities. Fishing, golf, biking, tennis, car show, whatever. The boys love new experiences. Looking for guys to commit to at least 1 outing per quarter.
Look for Memorial Day convergence pre-blast. Shoe wants to lead us in The Murph but we’ll see if he’s earned enough Area51 points to get the nod.
See Udder or Margo to sign up to Q. If you have been coming out to F3 for more than 3 months then it’s time to step up and lead. F3 doesn’t cost you money (except for the gear, the race fees, HDHH beer, and a few other add ons) but we do ask that you step up and take a lead role in some way.
Humbled by all the great men I was privileged to lead this am.
Wow – Swiper dropped a real truth nugget about 45 minutes in this morning and YHC had a hard time keeping it together the last 15 minutes. More on that later.
No shovel flag to be found (Q and Site Q fail) but 19 men gathered to push one another for a solid hour. Prohibition was ready to release some anger after the Dook loss and Runstopper needed extra time to get in some yoga before we started. Alf started the hazing early when we did a little COP to warm up before heading out (you will understand when you hit 50 why warm up is important).
The Thang
COP (as previously mentioned) – SSH, Slow lunges (at least in my book they were slow), and Parker Peters (too much whining)
Run to Davie Park and partner up. Partner 1 runs long way to the circle while partner 2 runs opposite direction thru parking lot next to playground. Idea was fast run on the long segment and recovery run on the short segment. We did 5 full circuits and a few minutes of mary at the end waiting on the six.
Run back to the school and hit the track. Lots (a nursery doesn’t have that much crying) of whining about going to the track and threats of YHC losing his Fast Twitch Q privileges (not a bad thing). After one 100 yd sprint we modified to lap work (too many RFYL’ers out there) with sprints on the straight aways and recovery on the curves. After two trips we headed back up to the parking lot (evidently, several PAX are embarrassed to run on a track with women – #stagefright and Pro didn’t like me picking on his Dookies for giving up 65 points in a half).
8 sprints in the parking lot to run out the clock
Naked Moleskin
So we start off with the typical lack of Respect for YHC. Complaints about warm up and RFYLer’s not seeing us because they are out running. Cadence too slow, cadence too fast, why aren’t we running yet – blah, blah, blah. Luckily YHC can handle the whining and we finished the warm up as planned.
The partner work was meant to focus on adapting to your team mates speed. I was hoping guys would figure out how to speed up on long segment or slow down on short segment to adjust to their team members level of fitness. Was also thinking my teammate (Swiper) might offer to take the long segment back to back so YHC could have a little more recovery time but alas he enjoyed his down time waiting on my slow arse at each transition. Will slow down next time (in 2 or 3 years when Haze forgets and invites me back) and explain the purpose of the team work. Fast Twitch is generally YvY so it was a change of pace. Most of us got in 6+ miles so we did exceed the minimum mileage thresh-hold.
Swiper drops one of the crudest yet most accurate truth nuggets I have ever heard on the run back to the school. He tells me the story of his first date when his dad drops by his room before he heads out. After his dad confirms he has a date, his dad says “Be careful, pussy is power”. Wow – that one will mess up your head right before heading out on your first date – but it’s also sage advice even if very direct. I’m going to ask Haze if that can be our next topic at The Stand – seriously (we can tone down the name).
Appreciate the opportunity to lead this strong group. It makes me push harder and that is why we come out.
Announcements:
We can always use more volunteers at Billingsville and AG MIddle School to tutor kids and help them hear important lessons about purpose, authority, and team work. Even if this is not your thing, I encourage all of you to find your dolphin and put as much effort, if not more, into the Third F as you do into the first F. In my humble opinion, F3 PAX need to work as hard at the Third F as we do on the first and second.
Please pray for Doogies family, who is grieving after loss of his sister.
I’ve have been telling any PAX who will listen that 5pm on Thursday at AG is the place to be and 7 men found out why this past week.
The THANG:
5 minutes discussing authority with the boys and why authority is sometimes hard to follow (peer pressure being a big one). Sparrow hit it out of the park with his story about a kid he knew going to jail after not obeying his parents curfew command. Barracuda described his unruly behavior as a teen (something about stealing mail) but I think he left out the good stuff (pretty sure he was on FBI’s most wanted list a few decades ago).
Main event – divide into two teams and commence to the best 30 minute workout for YHC in 5 years with F3. We played floor ball (hockey using a stick with a soft end and a sponge like ball) with the boys. Cuda tried the old pregnant player trick but could not pull if off – check it out 0:14 of the clip. Floor Ball with Pregnant Player Trick
We can always use more men to help build stronger relationships with these kids. Contact me at pchepul@gmail.com if interested.
The baddest 10 F3 PAX from South Charlotte came together to do what we always do at Anvil – lots of burpees (you can thank Magee). Geraldo bought the fake news about no burpees in the pre-tweet and failed to read the entire pre-blast where it was noted that we always do burpees at Anvil ( see #pelosi #cummings #flynnfaketweet). Not sure about the rest of the PAX but no one complained so I figure they knew the Anvil rule book by heart (section 2, paragraph 4 – burpees are required at Anvil).
The Thang:
Mosey over to far parking lot for COP after brief disclaimer including acknowledgement that YHC has poor form #builtforspeed.
Mosey to bottom of walkway from soccer field up to pavilion and partner up. Modified Jacobs ladder – partner carry up walkway and burpee. 7 trips (3 or 4 partner carries) and 28 burpees.
Mosey to ball field to “run” the bases. Bear crawl to 1st, burpee broad jump to 2nd (5 burpees), crab walk to 3rd, and lunge walk to home base. Rinse and repeat.
Mosey to play ground for 5 pull ups and 5 burpees for 5 rounds (Modified triple nickle).
Mosey to rock pile and grab a lifting rock. Line up in parking lot for another modified Jacobs ladder. 5 curls, 5 push presses, and 5 lateral extensions followed by run down to opposite end of lot and 3 burpees. Repeat 6 more times.
Mosey to next lot over for some sprint work (about 53.5 yards) with 6 inch plank in between. Backward run, karaoke, backward run, karaoke, and sprint. Mosey back to launch point and finish with 2 minutes of mary and 1 burpee.
Naked Moleskin
Small but strong group this am. The usuals were not out front. I think the partner carries and burpees wore Rachel down while Magee probably did 200 burpees yesterday and was slowed a bit on the last Jacobs ladder. Brilleaux and Lobsta Roll were out front much of the morning while Scabby got the hard duty of hauling my fat arse up the walkway. Strong work by Geraldo given he carried his ruck almost the whole time but he learned a lesson – read the fine print in my pre-blasts. Van Pelt and Shoe were showing how a Respect does it – both pushed hard the full 45. Glad to see Lorax along with Magee- condolences on the recent passing of a parent. Let me know if there is anything I can do to help during this time of mourning.
Magee is competing for burpee king of F3 so I had to help him out. I added 1 at the end because I thought we were at 99 but forgot the 10 we got in during the baseball field work. Extra credit will be factored into your final grade but I think Geraldo still fails due to not reading the fine print.
Thanks for the keys Magee and Lobsta – enjoy this AO and all the options it has (even if burpees are required)
Announcements
BIrthday party for Abacus at Centurion on Friday with Swiper as the Q.
Contact me (pchepul@gmail.com) if interested in getting involved with our kids mentoring activities #discipleship
YHC has the Q at a great AO tomorrow
Will figure out how to keep Magee happy.
Lobsta has made sure I know the PAX is expected to be pushed
The title was false advertising there will be burpees (or churpees) – they are mandatory at Anvil (its in the site manual – believe me)
With the Dirty BIrds blowing a HUUUGGGEEE lead the night before, 16 MEN posted at DMZ to get an early start on preseason training (BRR not that far away) so we don’t suffer the same fate.
The Thang:
COP – SSH X20, Mtn Climbers X15, Diamond Merkins X10
Find a partner and grab one paver for the two of you – take said Paver to the lacrosse field behind Carmel Middle school for partner relays. Partners rotate with one partner running to end of field and back with the paver while other partner knocks out as many reps of called exercises as they can. Keep swapping until the team has done 100 burpees, 150 merkins, and 200 squats. Finish with some Mary while we wait for the six.
Grab paver and head back up to tennis courts at the park. Partner 1 does mini suicide on courts will partner 2 does called exercise and then switch.
Head over to church for more partner work. Partner one performs people chair with paver extended out front while partner two does another mini-suicide. Three rounds. I did get in the disclaimer ( a tad late) but fortunately no injuries occurred so Area 51 and Mermaid are libel free for one more day.
Finish with Wall Maktar Jai (Q fail) and Wall-tar Jai (Hops lead)
COT
Naked Moleskin
16 was a pretty good number for morning after Super Bowl (although it was pretty hard to watch for most of the game). I remembered the Wall-tar Jai incorrectly from a few weeks ago. I could only do 3 Wall Maktar Jai’s and now I know which one is worse. I’m going to have a Wall Maktar Jai competition at Centurion my next Q.
One Eye Q’d Centurion last Friday and unleashed 100 burpees per man on us so the PAX should feel relieved they only had to do 50 at DMZ today (on average – my partner probably ended up doing 70 of the 100). I think I found Agony’s kryptonite as he is usually way out in front of me. The paver’s tend to even things out.
Hamlet and Agony led the chorus of complaints about not having a fancy strobe light and music. Pay your back dues and I’ll bring out the extra goodies. Pavers are always free. Hops HC’d even though he saw the plan in a tweet Sunday night – man is always a glutton for punishment in the gloom. It was so dark on the lacrosse field that I couldn’t see if we had any Larry BIrds and the tennis court suicides were too short to really get far out front.
Hannibal got picked by YHC because he is my BRR team mate #pickyourteamscarefully.
This one is sneaking up on me after lunch. Thighs and shoulders now letting me know the work was pretty solid. Of course, that could just be my age. At least I wasn’t War Daddy – pretty sure that honor goes to GAAP.
Appreciate the honor of Q’ing DMZ. It is the closet F3 workout to my house so it’s not like its an “inconvenience”.
Announcements
See me (pchepul@gmail.com) about getting involved in our efforts to teach boys about purpose, authority, and teamwork. We can be flexible and you can involve your M and 2.0’s on weekend activities.
Hops mentioned something but I forgot – too busy trying to remember all 16 names #keygoalaccomplished
Agony took us out in prayer
It’s January and thus the green eye shade guys (Abacus, MT, and maybe a few more) are buried with tax returns and receipt boxes from people who don’t like order or numbers. MT led 31 strong thru torment to be described later (including hair burners that ruined any hopes of PR in the Joe Davis Run the next day). BB will be posted on April 16, 2017.
15 PAX made sure to finish FY16 strong
The Thang:
SSH X20 and Mountain Climbers X20
Grab 2 pavers and jog over to Palatine Hill for the Bermuda Triangle. Run up Palatine Hill and do 5 squats, run around office building and do 5 push presses, run down to end of drive and do 5 jumping lunges (two movements = 1count). Increase the exercises by 5 each lap completing 25 of each exercise on the 5th circuit. Mary until the 6 comes in #sucked
Jog pack to parking lot in front of Amelies for Man Maker Merkins x10 and then back to CCHS parking deck for some partner work. Partner 1 runs to end of deck and back while partner 1 does called exercise until partner 1 returns and then switch. Curls, Peoples Chair, and Mary for 3 rounds.
Jog up the ramps to level 4 and then down stairs and back to launch point.
NMS
Surviving the Bermuda Triangle is hard enough without pavers. With pavers it just sucked. Everyone pushed hard this am but Rachel and Swiper were way out front #hates. YHC going to check the video tape to make sure their counts on the jumping lunges were correct (2 movements = 1). Next time I’ll remember to assign partners to even the odds (i.e. Rachel will be my partner)
Hairball and Cauliflower were so elated after VT comeback last night that they couldn’t sleep and had to come out to Centurion #bestArea51Fridayworkout. Strong work after night on the town.
Toolbox brought out his friend from Clemson so we named him Screw Driver (didn’t ask if he likes Vodka). Not an easy workout to cut your teeth but he pushed hard.
This crew was younger than normal with most under 40 and Drago and Bestie not even 20. Average age of under 35 I suspect versus normally in the mid 40’s. I’m rarely the WD here but all the really old guys must have been resting up for tomorrow night.
Swiper took us out with prayer.
As always, it was an honor to lead such an awesome group. I am thankful for the men that show up every week at Centurion.
Announcements
I could not find posting of an Area 51 New Years convergence but Metro Convergence at AG Middle School on January 2 at 7 am –Metro New Year Convergence This will probably be HUUUGGGGEEE so I suggest making it.
F3 (and friends/spouses/2.0’s) has been supporting after school programs at Billingsville Elementary and AG Middle School in Charlotte for many years. We attempt to tutor and teach but it’s hard work and impact is incremental. The kids, mostly from Grier Heights, come from tough environments and, at least initially, don’t have a relationship with us. Mom’s sometimes are wary of these outsiders coming in and many of the kids don’t have a father in their home to teach and guide them about respect, authority, and discipline. The kids live in poverty surrounded by violence, drugs, and other challenges.
But F3, working with Urban Eagles, is interrupting this cycle and providing new hope for the kids. Our goal is to build stronger relationships, help them learn, and give the kids new perspectives with the goal of giving them hope for a better future. This can happen in any neighborhood facing similar challenges.
Tutoring at Billingsvillle Elementary – 124 Skyland Avenue, Charlotte, 28211
At Billingsville, we tutor the kids every Tuesday from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm and host an annual Christmas party. Volunteers are paired one on one with kids to work on reading, math, and other subjects the kids need help with. The kids are always excited to see the F3 PAX.
We can always use more volunteers so If you, a spouse, a 2.0, or friend are interested in getting involved, please contact Kicken Chicken at rbowers@arcadiahomesinc.com or via twitter at @robby_bowers (or just show up on Tuesday at 4:30 during the school year)
AG Middle School – 1800 Runnymede Lane, Charlotte 28211
For the middle school, we conduct weekly activities on Thursday from 5:00 to 5:45 using sports as a way to build stronger relationships. We also coordinate several weekend activities during the year where we get to spend more time with the kids in the program.
We define our mission, values, and success as follows:
Our “coaches” (volunteers) believe our first ministry is to God, we have no agenda or pre-defined view of success, care about the kids without condition and strive to always be authentic and consistent
The F3 volunteers at Billingsville are making great strides in effectively tutoring these kids and the AG PAX see the positive impact when the kids move over to AG Middle School.
At AG, we just finished a year that included providing book bags with supplies for the kids, discussions on purpose and identity (tough topics at this age), several weekend activities, and a Christmas Party.
Book bags – Book Bag
Activities (2.0 friendly and helpful):
Christmas Party – Over 50 kids, 5 coaches, and several partners
What’s next – two things:
Contact Pete Chepul at pchepul@gmail.com or via twitter @pchepul to discuss.
Disclaimer – YHC is typing on iPad mini and can barely see the screen plus my secretary is on vacation early and spell check rarely works
Eleven of our finest we’re ready to get the Thanksgiving festivities started early but no pumpkin pie was to be found. We did 45 minutes of solid work in.
The Thang
Jog a bit than COP with SSH, merkins, Floyd Maywearhers, Parker Peters, and Mtn Climbers.
Jog to swing sets for 25 pull ups (I never do enough of these), 50 jerkins, 100 squats. Plank for the six and then head over to pavilion for 25 jump ups, 50 decline jerkins, and 100 dips,
Jog to rock pile and partner up. Grab a lifting rock, Partner 1 runs to church and back while partner 2 starts called exercises. 50 burpees, 100 curls, 200 push presses.
Jog to other side of parking lot for exercises and then sprint/perform called movement.
Naked Moleskin – Typing on a mini sucks. See 1 of the 11 for details
Anniuncements and take our – Christmas party sign ups closed. Register for Joe Davis run. Let’s remember all that we have to be thankful for and share with others.
