Month: December 2016 (Page 3 of 6)

Operation Sweet Tooth – Gastonia Convergence

December 20, 2016 / Roscoe / 0 Comments

Prologue

It was an early fall Friday morning at the Pavilion that Bandit and I decided to Q up the Operation Sweet Tooth in support of our brother Olive. I took the Q at the Gashouse in December and called for a Convergence workout. Then Bandit asked Olive if we could support the Greater Gaston Boys and Girls Club on behalf of #OST. Olive graciously offered his support. That is the beauty of F3. All you need is an idea and a little initiative and things get done!

We consulted with the GBC for their needs and we sent out a pre-blast and low and behold, 29 PAX and their goodies showed up on the cold morning of December 17th at the Schiele. GUTS gave me gift cards and sporting goods because he had to work and would miss it. My neighbor, (future name, “Mastodon”) who has read “Freed to Lead” and is in the throes of a solid EH gave me school supplies the day before. It was a beautiful thing.

But before we talk about the positive, let’s get to the beat down. Roscoe started with the warm up and was almost immediately heckled by Tool Time. Who else?

Warm Up

SSH x20 IC
Imperial Walkers x20 IC
Merkins x20 IC
Squats x20 IC
LBCs x20 IC
10 Burpees OYO

Mosey to flag for the Pledge.

Pain Station #1

Mosey to Grier parking lot for Speed Bump Merkins. Start at first speed bump with 20 reps OYO, then sprint to next speed bump for 18 reps. Continue back and forth decreasing reps (..16,14,12,10,8,6,4,2) for total of 110 merkins. Dolph led some ab exercises while the PAX completed the exercise. Some started out correctly but then got confused and did elevens. It was all good.

Pain Station #2

Mosey to Grier track for Partnerama. P1 planks on P2’s shoes while P2 does 15 old school sit-ups. Switch and repeado x3.

Pain Station #3

Continue Partnerama with P1 and P2 running track clockwise and counter clockwise respectively. When they meet (hopefully near the middle), both perform the following:

1/2 lap #1 = 10 Seal Jacks
1/2 lap #2 = 10 Squat Jumps
1/2 lap #3 = 20 Seal Jacks
1/2 lap #4 – 20 Squat Jumps

Bandit takes over, continuing the Partnerama activities:

Pain Station #4

Given the choice to keep same partner or change it up, Bandit clarifies SIZE MATTERS for the next round. After some adjustments, partners complete the following (10 seal jacks if partners need to switch early):

Wheelbarrow – P1 wheelbarrows P2 from goal line to 50 yd line. Flip flop back. Plank for the 6.
Partner Carries – P1 wheelbarrows P2 from goal line to 50 yd line. Flip flop back. Plank for the 6.
Bear Crawls – P1 bear crawls/P2 lunge walks from goal line to 50 yd line. Flip flop back. Plank for the 6.

Editor’s Note: This was bad.

Pain Station #5

After breaking up partners into two teams (all P1 are team 1, all P2 are team 2), each time lines up for 50 yard tunnel of love. Starting at goal line, first in line crawls under rest of PAX who are maintaining high plank, shoulder to shoulder. After crawling through tunnel, PAX will continue the high plank. This continues as each member goes through the tunnel -all the way to the 50 yard line.

Editor’s Note: This was worse.

Handing the reigns back to Roscoe to wrap things up:

Pain Station #6

Circle up for 10 minutes of Burpees. Circle is divided into 4 groups. One’s do 1 burpee and count “ONE”, Two’s do 1 burpee and count “TWO”, Three’s do 1 burpee and count “THREE”, Four’s do 1 burpee and count the rep (1,2,3,4,5…, to ~30). The clock was ticking and we needed to get back to the Schiele so an audible was called after the 7 or 8 minute mark and 33 burpees.

With 5 minutes to go, PAX mosey back to parking lot at the Schiele for COT. The toys were assembled and Hushpuppy was setting up for the photo when the Mayor arrived with more goodies. We waited for him to hustle in to the picture. He worked very late the night before but wanted to give away some gifts. #HIM

Roscoe had to get home to head to out of town so Bandit was in charge of the toy collection and he loaded up his car.

Epilogue

On Monday afternoon Roscoe and Bandit headed to the Boys and Girls Club to deliver the gifts. Here is what went down.

As we were approaching the building, we saw the Director Chad and explained what we were doing and why. He was well informed about OST and Christina and F3 after having done some online research. He told us that he had to leave but that Miss Mary and others were waiting for us. However, before he left, we gave him a solid EH. (He is in the South Charlotte/Pineville region)

We were welcomed into the club and some of the wonderful employees told us where we could place the gifts. We lined up all the gifts and suddenly a baker’s dozen of smiling faces welcomed us for a picture holding whatever they wanted to take from the boxes. We took a photo and thought that would be the end of our visit until they asked if the children could take us on a tour of the facility. This was getting better!

We started with a meeting room where the local Optimist club meets. There were many picture frames on the wall of previous board members or Optimist Club presidents from years past. Many prominent names from the community were on that wall. #HIM

We continued to the Art room, the study hall, the computer room, and the game room. At each stop different kids were telling us what they do there. They were so proud of their club and happy to show it off. Then it was time to see the gym where somewhere in the ballpark of 100 kids were sitting on the bleachers. We were led into the gym with our escorts and suddenly the gym erupted like a high school pep rally. It took a second and then we realized all that cheering was for us! I instantly wished we had all the Gashouse PAX with us to feel this humbling gesture from the kids. To cap it off, Miss Mary invited us to “center court” and told the kids about meeting “some of the people behind the scenes that make things happen”. She gave us a card that the kids had made and signed. It was overwhelming!

If you remember that Dr. Feelgood (#HIM) danced in the “Dancing for Future Star’s event in March and helped raise $326,000 for the Boys and Girls club. You would have thought that the OST Convergence had raised at least that much! 2017 stretch goal???

The Gashouse PAX would like to thank Olive for Operation Sweet Tooth. Out of heartbreaking loss, we remember Christina by honoring her through good deeds for children. We would not have had this experience without them. At least three members of the BGC read about Operation Sweet Tooth, learned about Christina, and about F3. I believe the PAX honored her memory by “keeping her spirit alive by providing hope and joy to children who may be less fortunate to have a positive impact and experience on their lives.

Roscoe received the following note from Miss Mary this morning…

GM Roscoe, I want to reach out again and say, Thank You All so much for coming out and spending time with the kids and bringing all those supplies. You really don’t have any idea what that meant to those kids giving you guys a tour of the building. Roscoe after hearing what F3 means Faith , Fellowship & Fitness I hope I got that right!! I did look it up on the internet and read the story about Christina. What you all are doing is a Blessing, keep on keeping on.

Did you read that? Keep on keeping on.

The idea incubator is alive and well with future opportunities to serve the Boys and Girls Club and OST.

KEEP ON KEEPING ON…..

Well Done Gashouse. Well done!

Roscoe & Bandit

Pre-Blast: New F3Gastonia running workout

December 20, 2016 / Grattan Brown / 0 Comments

New F3 Gastonia running workout Thursdays 5:30-6:15am. Meet in the parking lot at Hoffman Village (Publix, Hickory Tavern; 1949 Hoffman Rd, Gastonia, NC 28054).

Need a name for this AO. Suggestions? Here’s one: “The Pub,” as in “Honey, I gotta meet the guys at the pub at 5:30.”

Starts Thursday, December 22.

Why? Top 10 reasons to do a running workout at least once / week:

10. You’re “a runner.”

9. You’re “not a runner.”

8. Keep up with your 2.0 in Girls on the Run 5K races.

7. Kwqueietszche will give you a gatorade.

6. Your MD prescribed a cardio workout.

5. Outrun ‘Squatch.

4. Beat the other guy trying to outrun ‘Squatch.

3. Beat other F3 teams at the next Palmetto 200, BRR…

2. Record video selfie while running and send it to the guys.

1. If you run far enough, Defib will massage your calves.

The other F3 Gastonia running workout, Coconut Horse, meets Sundays 7:00-8:00am in the Kendrick Crossing parking lot (new Harris Teeter).

Hope to see many fine HIM on Thursday.

Monk

The BRAVE Preblast… How Mentally Tough Are YOU?

December 20, 2016 / JRR Tolkien / 2 Comments

F3 stands for Fitness, Fellowship & Faith. We train our BODIES for Fitness daily by doing merkins, monkey humpers, and mary during workouts. We train our HEARTS in Fellowship by investing in each other and challenging each other to be better fathers, husbands, and friends. And we train our SPIRIT in discussions about Faith and serving a greater being/purpose than ourselves. Each of these three facets of F3 share something in common… they all require a high level of MENTAL TOUGHNESS to achieve success in them. The correlation is simple, the STRONGER your mental game is, the better chance you have to achieve these goals (all goals, really). The WEAKER it is, well, leave it to lady luck to take you to where you want to be. So before we put a lid on 2016, YHC has one question for you…

“HOW MENTALLY TOUGH ARE YOU? “

But save your answer… Don’t tell me, YHC doesn’t want to hear it. In fact don’t show me either, YHC doesn’t need to see it. But do YOURSELF a solid and answer the question for yourself… How MENTALLY TOUGH are you? When’s the last time you pushed yourself to the absolute limit in a F3 workout without needing a Q to motivate you? Do you have the mental fortitude to meet the ambitious goals you have set out to achieve in 2017 or do you expect them to just happen all by themselves?

The phrase “mind over matter” means the ability to use willpower to overcome physical problems. After all, it’s proven the brain controls the muscles. YHC isn’t the only one to believe it. Read this:

“The mind is the limit. As long as the mind can envision the fact that you can do something. You can do it, as long as you really believe 100 percent.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” – Buddha
“Your mind will quit a thousand times before you body will. Feel the fear and do it anyway.” – Cristina Ortiz

ON TO THE PREBLAST…

SO WHERE IS YHC GOING WITH ALL OF THIS? It’s simple… Friday @The Brave this week isn’t about who’s the fastest, fittest, or strongest, it’s about the opportunity to measure where YOUR mental toughness is, providing an arena for the challenge (Ballantyne Village Parking Deck), in the best workout format for a test, the AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible). With the AMRAP it’s YOU vs YOU, and you’re not limited by anyone else’s desire and abilities, but your own. Too easy? … Push yourself harder. How bad do you want it?…Only you will know.

This Friday @ The Brave happens to be the 6-month anniversary of the decommissioning of the TOUGHEST workout in all of F3 Nation, Metro’s “THE MUTHASHIP”, an AMRAP 12 story parking deck workout crafted to develop/test mental toughness. Some of you probably have heard YHC rant about that 12 story concrete behemoth of a parking deck that lured men of all regions Uptown every Monday. YHC won’t rant anymore about it… you can read the link to the BackBlast from the last time we did a workout like this here: http://f3nation.com/2016/06/29/the-brave-tribute-to-the-muthaship/

We’ll simulate The Muthaship workout as best as possible in the 4-story Ballantyne Village Parking Deck this Friday. YHC did this workout in the Summer on the 1yr anniversary of YHC in F3 Nation, and 6 months later we’re doing it again. Pebbles called it the toughest workout he’s done in F3, Frasier liked it so much he requested we run it back in cooler weather, and everyone else hated it so good. YHC aims to please so it’s baaack.

The Thang…

This time, we’ll run this SOLO… (unless you really miss the 3X partner carries up the ~~hotboxes~~ staircase)

1) 5:15am START: 25 Spartan-style chest-to-ground burpees in Vine parking lot

2) Sprint to lowest level of Ballantyne Village Parking Deck (enter down the steep grassy hill on the left leading to the base of the parking deck, not through main car entrance): 40 Hip Slappers on garage wall (20 each side)

3) Run all levels up to top of deck alternating BACKWARDS RUN FIRST on first ramp, then FORWARDS RUN on next.

4) Down the staircase on the LEFT (farthest from Movies), and CLIMB DOWN & UP STAIRS 3X (210 steps = 12 flights) – use the OUTSIDE lane going UP, and INSIDE lane going down… just like driving around 485

5) At top of the deck: perform 5 BURPEES + CRAB WALK the straightaway + 5 BURPEES (head towards the stairwell closest to the movies)

6) Down the staircase on the LEFT (closest to Movies), and CLIMB DOWN & UP STAIRS 3X (210 steps = 12 flights) – use the OUTSIDE lane going UP, and INSIDE lane going down… just like driving around 485

7) Back down staircase to the bottom, run to the TOP of the grassy hill you initially ran down and start step #2 again. That’s 1 Lap… how many can you complete? #REPEATO #AMRAP #YOUvsYOU

8) 6:12am – stop wherever you are and head back to The Vine parking lot for COT, and Virtual Trophy Award presentation.

*This time YHC will provide ORANGE CONES to help since these steps are soooooo complicated*

YHC hopes to see you all out there Friday. Hope you and your families have a very Merry Christmas.

SYITG ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

Pre-Blast: New 3rd F in F3Gastonia Tuesdays @ 6:00am

December 19, 2016 / Grattan Brown / 0 Comments

F3 Gastonia is starting a weekday 3rd F on Tuesdays from 6:00-6:30 am at the Starbucks in the new Harris Teeter in Kendrick Crossing; 3350 Robinwood Rd; Gastonia, NC 28054.

Tomorrow we will reflect on Luke 1, leading up to the birth of Christ. Going forward we’ll read chapters from the bible or books on spirituality, leadership, etc. RECOMMENDATIONS are WELCOME.

Recently Dr. Feelgood did a great series on leadership, and we’d love to have other series from HIM so disposed!

Looking forward to continuing our fine discussions.

Monk

Gastonia 3rd F – New Opportunity

December 19, 2016 / Short Sale / 0 Comments

A recent change you may have noticed is a bible chapter and verse published via Twitter which can be studied individually or as a group. F3 is all about stepping up and with mini-computers in the palm of our hands – this information is readily available.

At the Advisory Meeting Sunday night, our 3rd F Q Monk, raised the question to offer another opportunity for us to push the rock as it pertains the Faith element. Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, December 20th at 6:00 am, Monk will lead our first mid-week 3rd F session at Starbucks at the new Harris Teeter located at the corner of Robinwood and Kendrick Road. We recognize there are workouts at both The Storm and Folsom beginning at 0530 which have loyal followings. This will not be a workout, so come in work clothes (or your jammies), grab a coffee and we’ll have a time of faith study. Monk will lead the first session but like all F3 activities, we’ll want Q’s to step in to lead future sessions.

As with any F3 events in our region, we are looking for feedback and improvement. Please share your comments. 2nd and 3rd F ideas are open for suggestion and implementation. Thanks to Monk for stepping up to lead this opportunity. AYE!

It’s Christmas Week – Let’s Start with some 22’s

December 19, 2016 / Stroganoff / 0 Comments

7 Strong for a Monday morning workout in the gloom at Martha’s House. Not too cold but some significant wind dropped the temperature chill down a few notches.

As usual we gathered at Pelicans for some pre-workout mumble chatter and were thrilled to see an FNG in our midst. Getting toward a new year is a good time for EH’ing as many will be setting some New Year’s Resolutions…..why not F3??

We got right to the warm up on time thanks to the high dollar Casio on the Q’s left wrist:

In Cadence

SSH X 16
Imperial Walkers X 16
Moroccan Nightclubs X 21
LBC’s X 18

Pledge

The Thang

Mosey to the far end of the parking lot at Martha Rivers for some 22’s (11’s with the added number of reps to add up to 22 and count by 2’s)

20 reps of Merkins – Run to other side of parking lot – 2 reps of squats – run back to starting location
18 reps of Merkins – Run to other side of parking lot – 4 reps of squats – run back to starting location
16 reps of Merkins – yada yada, etc. etc…….you get the point. Continue until the last set included 2 Merkins & 20 squats

Mosey to center of the baseball fields for some Dora 1 – 2 – 3 work.

Partner one does exercise while partner two runs to the post at the end of the walkway/spoke of the wheel and then switch positions for cumulative reps as follows:

100 Merkins
200 LBC’s
300 Flutter Kicks

Mosey to the covered picnic shelter for some final work as follows in Cadence:

Dips X 15
Squats X 20
Dips X 15
Squats X 20
Dips X 15
Squats X 20

Mosey back to Pelicans for one quick set (or attempt) of Flutter Kicks. At rep # 26 or 27, we discovered the real reason he is called “GAS”tone, it was an epic, dinosaur killing explosion and YHC was in the line of fire and unable to complete the planned 40 reps of flutters. Workout abruptly ended.

Several announcements from the Advisory Board meeting: New 3rd F every Tuesday morning, 6:00 am at the new Harris Teeter/Starbucks on the corner of Robinwood & Kendrick Rd. New running workout on Thursday mornings, 5:30 am – 6:15 am, meet in the parking lot at the Publix/Hickory Tavern location. January 7 – F3 party at Whoopee’s – M’s invited, let Whoopee know if attending.

Several prayer requests. Remember the significance of this week.

Welcome to FNG Ditka. Look forward to seeing you at another workout, great work this morning!!

As always, I was honored to lead the group this morning. Until the next one, Aye!

Stroganoff

5 miles of fun run

December 19, 2016 / Gastone / 0 Comments

3 Men Showed for the conditioning run to shake out all the sore muscles from some great Q’s over the last week.

The Thang: We ran 5 miles and Whoopee ran about .3 more.

Moleskin: Light crowd as we approach the holidays but we had good quality men at the location. Stroganoff led the way most of the time pushing the pace up the big Robinwood hill. It was a warm morning rarity that had us sweating in the winter.

Always an honor to Q but for this workout it is pretty simple.

Goat Island BB

December 15, 2016 / Bandit / 0 Comments

Apparently, this was a secret workout. I guess you had to be there. Sargento covertly provided only participation information to YHC to avoid wrath of the Weasel Shaker(s).

According to Sargento, the information above is probably correct. Just not completely sure whether it was Pockets or someone else that EH’d FNG Chum.

Fighting the gloom: There’s an app for that

December 15, 2016 / Defib / 0 Comments

As the nearly full moon was hidden from view and the fog was collecting 5 #HIM posted at Martha’s for an early morning beatdown. Not a whole lot of mumble chatter – typical for a Monday but the few faithful that were there got their money’s worth.

Warm-up:

SSH x 25

Don Quixote x 20

Imperial Walkers x 20

Merkins x 12

LBC x 20

Pledge

The Thang: Mosey to the shelter with picnic tables. YHC pulls out his phone to reveal a new app that keeps time for a 30 minute Tabata style workout. The workout consisted of 30 second intervals AMAP followed by 20 seconds of rest. We performed three cycles with each cycle having three sets of three different exercises

First Cycle – Chest/Triceps – Three sets of:

Derkins

Dips

Merkins

Second Cycle – Core – performed with hands on bench – Three sets of:

Peter Parker

Parker Peter

Mountain climbers

Third Cycle – Abs – Three sets of:

LBC

Sit to Stand

Plank Jacks

After the Tabata beatdown we moseyed to the wall for two sets of Donkey kicks x12

The Pax performed without fail and all were sufficiently spent so we moseyed back to Pelicans to wrap up

Announcements: Convergence on Saturday – Single AO this Saturday at the Schiele. Bring a Toy for Operation Sweet Tooth

Prayer Requests: T-Square and family, Pax in general to stand up to Sad Clown and push through holidays which can be quite hard for those who have experienced loss during the year.

As always it was my honor and pleasure to serve

Defib out- Shock On

Pure Cardio (sans running…)

December 14, 2016 / Short Sale / 1 Comment

Boot camp workouts are predicated on “muscle confusion” and since each Q designs their own workout there isn’t a grand plan with alternating focus on the various muscle groups. Each workout has its own tempo and identity. Gastone is the new CEO of Martha’s House and has brought a new energy to the venue, constant energy seems more appropriate. I offered to fill the open Q slot and went to the drafting table, determined the session would go at a pace respectful to our new leader. Little did I expect to get pre-workout mumble chatter based on my pre-blast tweet declaring “no running.” How do you like that? Like a stubborn teenager avoiding authority, I became more convinced my plan was correct. I had 11 PAX to be the judge. Stroganoff shares insightful leadership quotes and the one I found to fit this situation is attributed to Socrates (or So-cratz according to Bill in the most excellent film: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure): “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”

Approaching our launch time, there was a larger than normal group stretching and moving around the damp parking lot. Freshly named Stone Cold quickly made it to post #2 having made his debut four days prior; a good sign as our region grows with additional #HIMs. As the circle began to form, Gastone noticed two men in the distance of Martha River’s parking lot. His F3 senses kicked in and he was off to check if they might be FNG’s. A minute later we were introduced to Bounty and Nunchuck, on their own nomadic venture from their home AO of Rock Hill, SC. We exchanged introductions, quickly realizing their F3 birth names were much tougher than ours as we offered a “Whoopee” and a “Stroganoff” among others. We definitely lose the name game, but could we bring the heat in the workout? Let’s find out….

Warm-up

Seal Jack IC x 10
Don Quixote IC x 10
Toy Soldier IC x 10
Side to Side Lunge IC x 10

Mosey to the bank across the street for the Pledge. We then moseyed 20 yards to the rear of the building and that was all the moseying we were going to do. Mumble chatter ensued. Instructions were provided, disclaimer re-stated – modify as necessary, go at your own pace. There would be 6 sets of 5 exercises timed at 30 seconds with a 10 second rest. Any PAX having completed an Insanity DVD will recognize some of the exercises that do not have an F3 brand affixed to them.

Set 1
1. SSH
2. Merkin
3. Squat
4. Flutter Kick
5. Freddie Mercury
Set 2
1. Burpee
2. LBC’s
3. Side Straddle Squats
4. Jingle Balls
5. High Knee Twist
Set 3
1. Burp to Lunge
2. Dips
3. Diamond Merkin
4. Shoulder tap w/Plank Jack
5. Cross Jack
Set 4
1. Merkin Jack
2. Bobby Hurley
3. Crunchy Frog
4. Box Cutter
5. Iron Legs
Set 5
1. WWI Sit Ups
2. Pike Ups
3. Pretzel Crunch Right
4. Pretzel Crunch Left
5. Spiderman Merkin
Set 6
1. X Crunch
2. Plank to Squat
3. Prison Cell Merkin
4. Hook Lunge
5. Ski Burps

Like any of these ambitious sets that are timed, the set-up and rest periods to catch the PAX breath encroaches the dedicated 45 minutes of the weekly workout. We made it through all six sets one time but only halfway on the second go around. We moseyed back to the start for one minute of Mary: Hillbillies IC x 15 and Imperial Walker IC x 5 before time expired. Good work by all the PAX to push through. Tabata sets are always a You vs. You. The group setting provides the background noise even though George Strait didn’t make the playlist (next time Whoopee – I promise). But in this setting it’s your gloved hands pushing against the rock, trying to get a little better than before.

Thanks to Bounty and Nunchuck for joining us this morning. Hope you will come again when we make a broader tour of the AO. We shared announcements about our upcoming Convergence at the GasHouse Saturday am. Bring an item or two off the list to support Operation Sweet Tooth. Monk shared his new plan to post a bible passage that can be the basis for the Third F at Panera or any time at your leisure. Finally Whoopee needs a head count for PAX and M’s attending the After Christmas Party January 7^th. There is no truth to the rumor that his M will do a burpee for every female in attendance.

Thanks for the opportunity to follow my lead, even if you didn’t get to run.