GTE24: Muthaship
My brother Kenneth McCuistion doesn’t have an F³ name. He’s never even been to a workout. But, he is the first man to have EH’d me. On the last stop of my active-duty journey in South Korea, he introduced me to the 3F’s. He saw me and knew I needed to join him in workouts, he connected with me and took me along to bible studies, and he became my friend.
In Junior ROTC we called it camaraderie and esprit de corps, but after a few years of ending my active duty time, I began to miss something I didn’t even realize I had. I looked for it for a long time. I looked in the North Carolina Army National Guard, but it wasn’t the same. One weekend a month, 2 weeks a year, didn’t prove to fill the empty. I looked by getting married, and by going to school, and by taking jobs. And each glimmering mirage failed to fill the void.
I went looking for it again when I saw an F³ sticker on the back of a truck window. I got really excited when I saw that F³ stood for fitness, fellowship, and faith. I knew that I needed more development in each, but I stayed a sad clown because the Nation was growing, just not close to me. Flash forward a few years and I live closer to the birthplace of F³, and so I go looking again, and I find just a glimpse of what I’ve been looking for.
I start going out regularly to workouts, and yeah my fitness improves, and I’m seeing the same guys, but I’m still on the outside, still seeking that feeling, still lacking the secret sauce. I start doing Sanctuary on Monday nights, connecting with other men who carry a similar passion for Christ, getting a little bit deeper in fellowship and faith, and a little closer to the taste. Then we did some serving and some giveaways for Christ’s Closet and in the deepened relationships I found what I hoped would end my craving. But that mental battle of being worthy of that level of fellowship, of really being in it together with a common mission was always a struggle.
Go forward a few more years and I learn about a Grow Ruck happening in Charlotte. Now I am always down for a CSAUP and my brother is leading Grow Ruck training on Saturday nights. Right there, after the first ruck, I have a realization that feels novel and profound: the Bible commands us to carry each other’s burdens.
I remember carrying my load when on active duty, but I don’t remember much about others helping carry my load. I wasn’t a believer back then and couldn’t see the others bearing my burdens with me. Collins, Brother Dan, Ski, AJ, and McCuistion all knew about the depression, the suicidal thoughts, the anxiety.
In that moment I started to really see what it was like for others to carry my burdens. I got smacked in the head and realized that I’m not carrying my burdens alone, I’ve got brothers who are next to me, who are helping me carry my weights. I got to see again, and maybe in more living color, the 3F’s and what they mean. The why we should pass it on, the why it’s important that we give it away. When we are brave enough to give it away, we unlock and unshackle other men.
I failed the Grow Ruck 24 PT test. I wiggle-wormed my way through push-ups and didn’t have the ability to complete the two mile run in the time allotted. That was no big surprise to me. When we were asked by the Cadre to bear crawl and crab walk I was ready to throw in the towel. While we were going through the water, I considered tapping out. Walking toward the Community Matters Cafe, I felt light-headed, nauseous and was cramping, ready to quit. The spiral ramp of the Muthaship seemed to never end and I was so weak I had to rest our Old Glory on my shoulder. I didn’t spend enough time carrying the coupons. I spent a lot of my time in the six just trying to keep up.
I’m grateful for my brother’s words of encouragement and wisdom at sunrise. I really needed to hear Romans 5:3-4; suffering produces perseverance; perseverance produces character; character produces hope! We had come through the dark of the night and into the morning light and I finally had hope that I could finish!
Truly my hope was born in those who believed in me and believed I could finish. Born in those who were already carrying my weight. My brother took me aside and said “look at my eyes… I believe you can do it” and so I looked through his eyes, through all of their eyes, to keep going. When I wasn’t so self-focused I could look to my right and my left and see those trudging beside me hurting like me and wanting to give up as much as me, but just like me, they kept pounding, kept pushing.
I’ve lost Brothers to war and to suicide and have lost my connection with most of the men I served with because of the burdens they bear. Kenneth McCuistion doesn’t have an F³ name, because he never made it to a workout. I let him down and didn’t help him carry his burden. He committed suicide while we were in South Korea and that really messed me up for a long time.
I didn’t find out until recently that what I was searching for was more than camaraderie, it’s a brotherhood, a family, a connection… I know that it’s hard to ask for help, and sometimes it’s even harder to accept, but we are commanded to carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2) When we go it alone we deny others the opportunity to serve, to be like Christ.
Thank you to F³ Nation. Thank you for Sanctuary, for workouts, for Qsource, for all those opportunities to build the esprit de corps, camaraderie and brotherhood that I’ve been searching for since I left active duty. Thank you for the unshackling.
No scary moments, just strong emotions
Six fine gentlemen we ready to follow YHC for the Brave today. I did warn the folks that my emotions were a bit charged today as the family had just dropped our oldest 2.0 off at school. The University of Tennessee. Yes, exciting times, but still not easy to have a kid move out after 18 years.
The Warm Up
Mosey east on Ballantyne Commons and stop at the first apartment complex.
13 SSH
13 Imperial Walkers
Plank with right foot to right hand, flapjack
The Thang
The course was to run BC, turn right on Elm, which turns then into Bryant Farms, turned left into the Y, then exit the Y onto Community House and head back to launch at the Gibson. 4.20 ish miles.
From the entrance of the Y to the exit, Indian run. Haz Mat had a shoe issue and stopped, but then like Willie Mays Hayes (name the movie) he shot past us as the lead runner and never missed a beat.
We made 13 stops along the way. Each stop was for 1 minute of work.
- Air Squat
- Merkins
- Plank Jacks
- Walking Lunge
- Big Boy sit ups
- Bonnie Blair
- Dry Dock
- LBC
- Not sure on proper name, “ankle touches” on back with right hand to right foot and then left hand to left foot
- Plank for 30 and 30 seconds of Merkins
- Dips
- Al Gore
- Burpees…..no surprise here…..informed the group at this point that is was our 13th minute of work and asked Wild Turkey what exercise we would do. He called is correctly. My favorite!!! BURPEES
We finished with 30 seconds of plank at launch.
Great work men and I always appreciate the support.
Announcements
Blood Drive in October
Q School August 21st at Da Vinci (6:30am)
Discussion with War Eagle about the Brave being an IronPax Challenge site for the month of September. Keep an eye on slack for more details.
COT
YHC closed us out and hoping all the parents stay strong as they send their kids back to school, off to college or to school for the first time. Exciting but emotional. We have hopefully raised (and continue to raise) them correctly and allow them to spread their wings no matter what stage of life they are in. Be there to guide.
SweetWater
Chest Day @ Centurion
Yes, it’s another Waxhaw backblast
6 absolute studs came to have some rock fun.
Warmup/Thang:
Mosey to benches behind high school
50 dips IC
then 20 dips IC
To the stairs; 10 Tysons on top, at bottom 10 hand release merkins; repeat 3x
To rocks by HS parking lot; lifting rock, 20 goblet squats IC, 20 presses IC, 20 thrusters IC
To the benches behind the high school-10 merkins, 10 wide arm merkins, 10 diamond merkins, 10 derkins
To the rock pile on path, lifting rock 20 goblet squats IC, 20 presses IC, 20 thrusters IC
To rock pile by poop shed-running rock taken; 20 LBC IC, 20 Flutter IC; 20 heels to heaven IC
With running rock-run up path to rocks ready to go-complete 20 Goblet squats, 20 presses, 20 thrusters
Run back down to end of path with rock, 20 merkins
With rock, run back to rocks-10 goblet squats, 10 presses, 10 thrusters
Back down to path, 20 merkins; 20 low slow squats
Mosey to rocks in HS parking lot; 20 curls IC;
Then run to HS front benches; 25 step ups; 10 derkins
Run to front of middle school-50 donkey kicks, run to street, 40 donkey kicks, to street, then back to start
Done -3.5 mi
Moleskin:
Apologies to those that wanted more running Smithers. Tried not to bring a full Ignition workout to Swarm; Pretty sure the really humid morning sucked the life out of most of us as the legs weren’t moving that fast towards the end. Neither were our mouths as the chatter was getting quieter and that extra 15 felt especially long today.
Mute killing the rock lifting, not as fond of the rock running (none of us were). Blue Screen once again proving that age doesn’t matter out there. No stop in that man. Sugar Daddy must have been fired up because he even threw in a pre-run. Nice. Ghosted loves the 60 min workouts. Dude has the endurance. Smithers still satisfied post-workout despite the lack of heavy miles. Always good to through a few hiit workouts in your marathon regimen. Gerber loves the new warm-up routine. Big fan. Until next time…
Last Call goes old school
4 PAX at Last Call for a change of pace.
THE GOOD NEWS: With the small crowd, it allows the Q to use gear and do different things . . . Kind of like when I started F3 and Transporter used to come rolling into Cutty Middle dragging his trunk due to all the gear . . . for a 5 man workout.
THE BAD NEWS: Not really any place to hide . . . If you want to modify or coast into the weekend with limited efforts, a small crowd makes it difficult . . . Since Dasher is staring at you the entire workout
THE NEWS:
- Mosey to front of high school for some warmup
- Grab the gear out of the truck and lug back to same location
- Rotation #1: 3 weight stations plus a timer (run lap with sandbag)
- Rotation #2: 3 weight stations with timer (8 sandbag burpees)
- Rotation #3: 2 weight stations with timer (20 slamball squats) . . . Fiji had to take off early
- Mary
- Great mumblechatter during these workouts
- Fiji took a 6 month vacation to Antarctica
- High Hat almost refused to workout with Dasher and YHC due to our lack of effort
- Dasher won an ultra marathon trail race last night at WhiteWater Center
- The Site Qs showed up and offered encouragement, brought drinks, and gave us a shovel flag
- Service Opportunities tomorrow
- 0800 at Cutty Middle . . . Bring blowers, shovels, and wheelbarrows to help with cross-country course
- 1000 at Christ’s Closet . . . Bring your truck, trailer, and some extra help
I’ve been to Lawson 8,457 times, yet
I still get lost every time I’m there. Maybe it’s because it’s always dark at 5:20am when I visit. Anyway, this time I brought some Lawson locals to help me navigate the 32 cul-de sacs and trail system.
DICCs
Mosey a mile on over to Lawson clubhouse. Avoid getting hit by all of the Flash crew. Pretend not to hear any of the heckling about headlamps.
Warm up: Squats x15
Thang: at the playground-10 mike tysons then 10 pull ups, repeat 5x
To Deer Meadows Dr., to Sewee Ln and Southern Trace Dr., circle, then to Ringtail same thing; at every corner 2 merkins, then 4 merkins, etc to 10; start again at 2 up to 8; Basically we ran around the blocks twice, small rectangle, then bigger one; was supposed to be a third but that didn’t exist.
Down to bottom of Deer Meadows in cul de sac; 20 jump squats
Then: 10 Big Boys; run through the path to Ringtail Dr. cul de sac; 10 scorpion CDD each leg; repeat 3 times;
Time to head back; at every light pole to Lawson clubhouse 4 merkins
Then at every light pole to Cuthbertson street 8 jump squats
At cabin guys house (est. 12/16/19 backblast) collect crew and run down to stop sign 20 scorpion dry docs at speed bump and at stop sign
5 mi plus passed by many F3 homes
Moleskin:
Fast crew for this epic and delightful adventure down to the gold plated streets of Lawson filled with sunshine and rainbows pretty average run through Lawson again. Powerful and strategic marketing leads to enormous Ignition crowds as usual. No I didn’t just make this workout up the morning of. The nerve. Yes they all worked hard except for the nameless pax who we caught walking through the dark streets of Lawson.
Bottlecap-Took off his shirt at the 50 minute mark. Winner for longest shirt wearer. Also had the gall to try and push the pace on multiple occasions. Until 6:08 that is.
Dasher-Immediately took off his shirt pre-workout. Also loves his new and improved kippingless pullups routine.
Easy Button-Shirt came off at the 40 minute mark. Also tried to correct me about Goggle Maps being incorrect about a lack of street placement. Easy ignore.
Glidah-Never wore a shirt. Came shirtless. Also unsure if he actually owns a shirt. Doesn’t sweat. Just glistens.
Announcements: Yes
We talking about practice
Written at the (winsome) request of Posse about GTE 24 – The Mutha
Our world teaches us to focus on ourselves: our reputation, fitness, looks, wealth, and power. Hundreds of organizations and gimmicks offer to help. From a distance, F3 can appear the same: “Join our free workout, get fit, make friends, and become a better man.” But unlike those organizations and gimmicks, F3 does not make you a better man through self-focus.
You might have a similarly incorrect idea about the Growruck: that it is a personal test of fitness and endurance. Again, the truth is different. It is the opportunity to serve your brothers by encouraging them, carrying their load, and sparing them pain by taking it on yourself.
Nearly 120 men arrived at 4pm at AG Middle School and lined up with rucksacks with a 30 lb weight, 6 liters of water, and other gear for a total of ~ 50 lbs. Then the PT test: 40 hand release merkins in 2 mins, 50 buttlerfly sit ups in 2 mins, and a 2 mile run in 18 mins. It was hot and we stood in the sun while each man passed or failed. Then we did exercises at stations at AG and got messed with for another hour or two. I did the minimum to pass the PT test. This generated cadre mocking, which I welcomed. Every extra rep for myself (to show how strong I was) was strength marginally less available to give to my brother later.
We lost 18 at AG from a bad mix of the heat, the PT, and the exercises. Then we divided into 4 platoons of 24-25 men each and set off for 20+ miles over the remainder of the night (16 hours total). Each platoon started burdened with sandbags of 120, 80, and 60 pounds, plus less heavy water coupons, ammo cans, and a shovel flag. Along the way, we heard about leadership, personal journeys, and some military instruction. We went to Freedom park, got in the lake for shenanigans, then went to Community Matters in part via ~1.5 miles wading through the slippery rocks of Sugar Creek. At Community Matters, we traded the sandbags for a phone pole (log), went up to the top of the Muthaship & down a couple times, and then traded the phone pole for a “dutch baby” contraption made of pallets and some kind of heavy machinery. Along the way, I made new friends and was particularly impacted by my new friend Mr. Fixit, a constant encourager. It was also good to be under the anvil with old friends like Uncle, Titan, CSPAN, and Kid Rock. I missed the opportunity to be with others in other platoons, and particularly missed not being able to lend a hand or word of support to other brothers, like my man Radar (who crushed it without me).
We headed home with a sunrise stop at the Myers Park CC tennis courts. At this stop, Moonshine got up and spoke, quoting from Romans 5 (with permission but without attribution):
We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.
This passage was impossible for me to understand until I had truly suffered. Now it is impossible for me to understand life without it.
Not that a Growruck is true suffering. Nor will a Growruck produce character, even though some of the guys left feeling that way. That 16 hours was but a dim reflection of real pain.
But which of you was able to run a marathon without training? Or to excel in whatever you do at a high level without practice? That is what a Growruck is. Practice. Practice enduring a small amount of suffering in order to train in how to respond. What I have learned that is my response to the suffering of others should be sacrifice. And the Growruck was practice for that. So if you are considering a Growruck, I suggest you consider it for that reason: one type of practice responding to pain in others by taking their pain upon yourself.
You will transform that way, and in few others.
Barefoot Q
Prelude
Yes, it is true. I Q’d Diesel barefoot. And I arrived at 5:35am with the truck at full throttle, though the workout starts at 5:30. But that is only because I woke up at 5:31. I apologize to everyone for that tardiness, and have no excuse. The reason (not excuse) is that I turned my normal Friday alarm off last week to take a day off, and failed to reset it properly. (Side note: I would have preferred that more of you were impressed by me going from asleep in my bed to center of the COP in 4 minutes.)
Since Diesel is a no-running workout, it was convenient to not have enough time to put my shoes on (or use the facilities, or stretch, pray, read scripture, drink water and coffee, or any of the other things I prefer to do before working out). So I kicked it barefoot. Luckily, Golden Plates had an extra cinderblock & the pax were warmed up when I arrived, so we got right to it.
First Movement: Don’t Put Your Block Down or Rest it on Anything (really)
I told the pax that they were not allowed to put their cinderblocks down, or rest it on any part of their body, and then I pho-mocked Chastain (who was cradling his block near his thigh in a restful manner) to make sure everyone understood. Some of them laughed until they realized I wasn’t kidding. Holding the block the whole time is good for your grip strength, and puts continuous stress on the participant, which is good, too. We did fairly continuous exercises that probably included the following:
- Around the world
- High pulls
- Horizontal press
- Lawnmower
- Lunges
- One handed alternating swings
- One-handed side lifts
- Shrugs
- Side-squats
- Squats
- Swings
- Thrusters
- Tricep extensions
- Two-handed push press
Everyone tried hard(ish) to stick with it. The sanction for putting the block down or resting it was 5 burpees. But some of the guys realized that I couldn’t actually make them do 5 burpees. So the sanction was ignored by some who took the loss to their dignity instead. Others who couldn’t do burpees instead did some other sanction that they made up.
Second Movement: On Your Backs (No Touching the Ground)
The pax then got on their backs (without the block touching the ground). At first, they were glad. Then we did exercises that included the following, doing enough reps mostly to make Chastain quit.
- Block in the air like you just don’t care
- Big boys
- Big boy thrusters
- Russian block twists
- Block in the air flutters
- Block in the air dollys
Third Movement: Bear Crawl with the Block
No text is necessary to describe this phase
Finale
Our finale consisted of exercises like the those we did in the first movement.
Moleskin
Nice to get out and be with guys I don’t see every week, including a few strangers (to me).
There was a lot of bluster about naming the FNG, with O-69er claiming (falsely) that I give “bad” names. He may have meant “bad” like O-69er was stuck in the 1980s, when we used to say someone or something was “bad” but we really meant its antonym, “good.” Clever, right? O-69er also says “thirsty” when he really means desperate, and “don’t trip,” not to mean, “don’t fall,” but rather to mean “don’t stress out.”
So with all that bluster, I asked for name suggestions for the FNG, to see how good their naming-game was. I got “Julia Childs,” “hors-d’oeuvres,” and “sous-chef,” because the guy likes to cook. Since the pax claimed to have such a good naming-game, I gave them more time to make suggestions. Good ones. I waited some more. I tried to use silence to spur (good) suggestions. But got nothing. So the FNG is now named “the Bodyguard.”
The Bodyguard is a stud by the way. You can see it in some FNGs who may be surprised by the first workout, but come strong, like a Whitney Houston song.
Peace out brothers. Hope your weekends are fantastic.
Basketball @ Clyent Dinner
Lets play some BBall. I’ve heard several pax talk about wanting to get up some pick up games. One went so far as to asking why we didn’t have a basketball AO. So while struggling to figure out what to do, and with help from a Mona Lisa VQ, I decided to do a trial run on a Waxhaw Basketball F3 AO.
5:30 and the crowd is light. I know two pax are on the way…should I wait..Nah. We roll out.
WARM UP
Indian Run with the basketball to the picnic tables behind the middle school cafeteria. Neither Drive By or Xerox quite ever put this together (Carry basketball to the front, drop it, and person in the back sprints to grab it and carry to the front). Between the middle guy grabbing the ball 
and guys running the wrong way
I decided to call a Deadwood Audible and just run there. As we rounded the corner I see By Pass and his 2.0 hop out of the car and start sprinting our way 
So I decided to quickly find what little shade I could 
and wait for them to join us.
Jimmy Duggans
Wall Calf Stretch
And run to picnic tables.
THE THANG
5 Burpees
10 Derkins
15 Step Ups
20 Dips
Repeat 3 times. Order of finish would determine teams.
First teams ended up being Drive By, Xerox, and Check Four vs By Pass and I. We ran full court the first game which proved to be too much for Drive By’s calf. Xerox shoulder also forced him to both shoot and rebound one handed – which was pretty funny to watch. With two former High School Bench warmers vs bad calf, bad shoulder, and a 9 year old, it was a quick game.
Quick (2 minute) break in the shade while we redrew teams. Xerox was the unlucky man to join me. Second game was decided to be half court which allowed us to add in the 3 point line. When down by 4 with 3 minutes to go, the competitive juices started flowing in me and I may have sent a 9 year olds lay up 4 rows deep.
A 3 pointer and a quick 2 by Xerox had us back in striking distance. Not to be out done, By Pass drained a three
and his 2.0 Check Mate got revenge on me scoring the last basket as the clock hit 0:00.
5 Minutes left so we started heading back to COT stopping to allow pax to call exercises along the way. Drive by called 15 LBC’s, as soon as my back hit the ground I said “NOPE! Recover!”
And we were up moseying again. Found a bench for dips. Stopped again for Bobby Hurley’s. And found a good shade tree to finally let Drive By enjoy those LBC’s without getting 1st degree burns on our back. COT just in time.
MOLESKIN
- Crowd was lighting than I had hoped, but then again it was 95 degrees with no cloud cover so I don’t blame them.
- I’m hoping if the interest is still there by some, that you use this Q as a springboard to launch a site. Whether its seasonal, later (7:30 or 8:00 start time?), incorporates some 2nd F beers and Gatorades….what ever. Hopefully this gives you the leverage, excitement, or motivation to start the site. I’m here to help in any way I can (other than site Q the site).
- Drive By was missing one contact lens today (or at least that’s what we will say) as his depth perception was a bit off.
- For a respect with one arm, Xerox put up some good numbers today. Great job moving on offense while my lazy @$$ waited for you to get open instead of making something out of nothing.
- Check Four working hard for his points. We all looked the other way on a couple double dribbles. Pretty sure I made his list with the last block.
- By Pass cherry picking big time in the opening game. Then decided to break out the top of the key jump shot for several points. Not to be out done, dropped a 3 pointer as well.
- I had a couple Derrick Whittenburg passes today and a reverse layup in which I got caught too far under the goal…but I left without an injury which is more than I can say for the last time I tried to relive my glory days on the court.
- Thanks for everyone coming out and supporting on less than ideal weather conditions.