Month: March 2022 (Page 11 of 12)

The Coconut Horse is the original Sunday morning running AO, the grandaddy if you will. Some of the regular PAX formed a six-man team and entered the Dam to Dam relay on February 26th. What is the Dam to Dam you wonder? The Dam to Dam Relay is a 100k road race that consist of 12 legs ranging from 3 to 7.8 miles each. Roscoe served as our Q to submit sand-bag pace times and delegate responsibilities. Stroganoff secured what was supposed to be a comfortable 15 passenger van but settled for a 12-seat van that evidently had the shocks removed. JJ got snacks, Whoopee Gatoraid, with Defib getting water and I got beer (and backblast responsibilities). Many of you have been a part of the traditional 12-man weekend relays but this one operates on a shorter time frame. The proximity to Columbia, SC puts the real question for the group: get up early and drive 90 minutes or spend the night in a hotel? I’ve done it both ways and it really amounts to 2 hours of sleep – you either lose it on the drive down or attempt to get it in uncomfortable hotel. Because Roscoe declared this as a CSAUP and all CSAUPs require sacrifice – we opted for the stay at home 2:30 am wake-up call. Silently gathering at Stroganoffs for a 3 am launch. Normally I would be the late arrival, but I set multiple alarms. This morning the normally punctual Defib was slightly delayed to an early deposit. This would become a theme for our day.

Without any stops, Stroganoff gets us to Lake Murray at 5:00 am, plenty of time for Whoopee to get loose as Runner #1. A few guys drop deuces in the port-a-jon likely due to nervous energy creating havoc in our guts. We meet with the Burly Sebastions, Team #2 from Gastonia with Flintstone, EZ Rider, Gavel, BOS and a couple of guys from Shelby. Luckily there was a food truck serving coffee to get a bit of caffeine into our systems. Stroganoff pees a few times. The DJ at the start has a ton of energy to fire up a bunch of sleepy runners who are lit-up like McAdenville as they anxiously await their 0530 start. Finally, the countdown hits zero and Whoopee slowly leaves the gate last. He pulls “a Sargento” and quickly collects 3 kills before he’s out of the parking lot and settles in for 5.5 miles. He totals a couple more kills finishing 5th out of 10 in his group but not to worry, he was #1 in the Sexiest Cardiologist of the 10 starters (no word if any of the other 9 were actual doctors, let along cardiologists…we’ll just assume that was fact). JJ was out next for a nice 4 mile run and demolishing 4 runners along the way. Roscoe was generous on this relay as JJ has some tough legs on the upcoming Mortimer. Stroganoff peed twice more during this time. Our third runner was Defib – while the distance of 7 miles was one of the longer routes, it was mostly downhill with a little more than 100 ft of elevation gain. Defib loved this route, picking up 10 kills as daylight increased shedding light to the scenic run. And that is another positive for the D2D relay – it offers some beautiful views of water, creeks, fields, and country roads without a lot of traffic and the course is well marked. Read Seuss’ BB where he said: ‘even he couldn’t get lost.’ Roscoe tags in for 3.8 miles getting 3 kills, one of whom gives him “Double Respect” as he blows by. I guess that was a compliment. Somehow Stroganoff pisses yet again before he goes out for a five miler. Stroganoff knocks off 7 runners which is surprisingly ahead of his total bathroom breaks at this point (note – at this point). Finally, it’s my turn and I await Stroganoff with a water bottle for his efforts which only creates confusion as he attempts to hand me the wristlet that serves as our baton. I lose a few seconds of valuable time in this exchange but finally take off for 3.4 miles. Roscoe was kind to give me the bunny route which is an easy entry point for someone that is curious about these relay events. The 6th runner has two short legs of just over three miles each with little elevation – great for a rookie to try – or if you’re like me, lacking stamina but happy to contribute to the team. I passed a woman and a man walking – I’ll take any kill I can get which gave our team 31 for the first circuit. The early start time and passing of earlier teams pushed our team closer to the front which meant clean bathrooms but more importantly for Roscoe, the long-awaited baked potato at Corinth Lutheran Church. Roscoe was kind enough to buy me a stocked baked potato and made an extra donation to the church’s Men’s group that sponsored the event. And it’s a good thing he did the cash donation because the deposit I made in the bathroom may require a new paint job or a plumber. Stroganoff took advantage of the clean men’s room and peed again. Whoopee rolls to the finish with Metallica blaring on his phone. I honestly didn’t think he had any good music on his list. Whoop said not to worry, good ole George Strait preceded the heavy metal tune. I’m just glad he didn’t throw himself in front of a truck when George was humming a tune in his ear. Whoopee did pick up two more kills (doubtfully when the country music was playing). JJ flies through his 4.7 miles snaring four more kills along the way. Other than a brief encounter with a dog, Defib has another enjoyable run getting one more for his total kills to tally at 11. Roscoe goes out for the lengthiest run of the race at 7.8 but with minimal elevation. He too had a dog encounter but came out unscathed. Anticipating his final run which was the second longest of the race at 7.6, Stroganoff unloads a few more liters of urine. The only time our team was passed during the day occurred during his leg, with a high school kid sprinting faster than Gold Digger on crack. I had plenty of time to stretch and get prepared for the final run which was only 3.3 miles of mostly downhill as the total elevation was 122 feet. My teammates encouraged a change of playlist options from a chill soundtrack to one of hard rock. They were kind enough to plant the seed that the super 4-man team from the GasHouse comprised of Quiche, Sargento, Seuss and Round-up was burning up the course and reminded me of our team’s commitment not to let them pass at any cost – even if our van had to run interference. This mental psyche seeped into my brain, adding adrenaline to the 5-hour energy I chugged. I left in a near sprint for the first half mile. I felt like I was running to catch my heartbeat and stay ahead of my shadow. The short route had some turns which actually benefited the game plan to keep pushing no matter what. Every time I felt my cadence slow down, I reminded myself “don’t let anyone pass you.” Iron Maiden’s Red and Black got me through 13 minutes followed by GodSmack, Rush (Whoopee – you gotta have Rush!), and Van Halen would get me to the finish in a personal best 26:26 good for a 7:55 pace which I’d never run a 5k under 8 minutes. The personal best was only matched by a PB heartrate of 180 for that time period. This is also my first time running the Glory Leg of any race. On past teams, we’d typically join the final runner in crossing the finish line together as a show of our cohesion as a team. Well, to my dismay, I roll into the parking lot focused on the finish line and see my teammates at the end eating hamburgers and drinking. So much for that experience, but at least I was in the team photo, proud to be part of this fun group.

We left Gastonia at 0300 and arrived home at 1800 hours. We were on the course for 8 hours, 33 minutes and 58 seconds – officially the third team across the finish line; good enough for 24th overall out of 102 teams and 7th out of 14 in our division known as the Masters Full Team. At our start time of 0530 time, there were 39 teams that started at the same time or ahead of us. We passed all but one and were only passed by the eventual winners. Some critics like to complain about good football teams playing a weak schedule to which savvy head coaches affirm you can only play those on your schedule. It was an enjoyable day of conversation which is always part of the experience. No, we didn’t solve the Ukraine/Russia conflict – but note if Whoopee were in charge, we’d get a bomb and write Pakistan or Afghanistan on it and send it to Russia – they’d probably never think it was us (Whoopee – don’t lose your day job #SCAFL). Our group ended up with 38 kills and thankfully were not passed by the FRC. We dropped 5 deuces and peed 42 times, led by Stroganoff with a baker’s dozen. So the lesson is we had more pees than kills which is not too bad for a bunch of old guys and JJ.

Team Coconut Horses is off the course

So much talking today.

We all circled up and got it started.

Disclaimer

Warmup:  SSH x10 IC, Gravel Pickers x10IC, ROL/LOR, MNC x25 IC, Arm Circles

Thang:
1) Mosey to flagpole for pledge, 22 for vets and police.
State mission and principles.
Free, peer-led workout for men.  The mission is to plant, grow and serve small workout groups for men for the invigoration of male community leadership
Free of charge, open to ALL men, held outdoors rain or shine, heat or cold, led by men who participate in a rotating fashion, end with a circle of trust

2) Mosey up to Grier entrance and run suicide drills from the entrance to each parking spot and back.  We ran this drill for about 12 minutes and got half way.  More spots than I remembered. 

3) Mose over to Presbyterian stairs for some more work

• perform 20 reps and then hit the stairs for the following:  Merkins, Calf Raises, CDDs, Heels to heaven and lunges

4) Partner up for a modified Dora.  One guy does the work while the other runs around the church lot.  We dont worry about reps here, just working.  When the second partner gets back, we switch exercises.  They were as follows: Squats, Merkins, LBC

5) Back to the stairs for three (3) calf raises at each step going up.  

6) Mosey back to start for our last push.

• Do 10 reps IC for all
  Mountain climbers
  French Fries
  SSH
  Michael Phelps
  Plank Jacks
  Freddy Mercury’s

7) Finished with the monthly plank challenge.  We did 1:30.  Short sale claimed he started 30 seconds early, but he was in downward dog so half rep, half time.

8) Stopped one minute early to discuss the most recent podcast by Stroganoff about drugs and how it can affect the family.  Dont feel judged and if your child is having an issue, reach out to someone.  Talk with your children about drugs, sex and all the issues that are coming at them 5 years faster than it did for us.  

Announcements:  F3 Foundation Run 4/9 @ 9:00, speed for need here?, Plank workout from 1st F q.

TAP: Turtleman, SA, Roundup, Watts Up, Dry Rub friend recovering from surgery.

Name-o-rama, COT

Warm Up

20 SSH IC

10 Burpees

10 SSH IC

5 Burpees

Mosey to the HILL

At the top of the hill we done 10 burpees and at the bottom we done 10 air squats. This went on for 4 rounds taking us to completion of our first mile!

We finished and the guys were looking strong so we completed another mile on the hill with 10 Merkins at the top and 10 big boys at the bottom!!

As we finished that mile I could see the guys had enough gas in the tank for 1 more mile! So we collected as a group and took off through the nature trail and around the park for the last mile. We made it back to the flag and finished with

SSH 20 IC

5 burpees

SHH 10 IC

5 burpees

that’s time!!

“What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:18-21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

the lord blesses us with opportunity to share his word at the workouts and I pray I can take advantage of that every time. As me and my wife were in the hospital 2 weeks ago with our babies that had passed away I read chapter 1 in Philippians and this part stuck out.

No matter the situation Paul’s expectations were to honor Christ! That’s the same with us no matter life or death in this body we should strive to honor our savior! Only through a relationship with Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit will we ever be able to withstand the pressures of this world and it’s the only way we will bring him the glory he deserves!

Announcements

P200 needs a driver for the end of March
Rooster March 12
Q school sometime in March

Prayer Request

SA father in law
Gumby back
Wichita family
Roundup family
Westside family
Gumby mother
Big Pappy family and mother

Seriously, who believes that we would let that happen?
He did collapse (in true NCSU Wolfpack tradition) at the finish line. Nine eyewitnesses saw him flopped out on the pavement like roadkill. Even a video exists that may or may not see the light of day showing this very fact.
Enough about the greatest F3 Gastonia nantan for the year 2022.

Modified disclaimer.

Eleven runners. Nine left on time. One left early. One left late. Ten returned with Defib believed still out on the course since his vehicle was still present.

Pledge (Way to go Roscoe with flag on the phone)

Announcements
Race season.
Need Q downtown for April 9th.
T-shirts need more buyers for The Yank.
T-shirt design contest.

Prayer requests
Wichita’s family
Round up’s family
Breaker Breaker’s uncle
Tesla
Spoken and unspoken

Words of Wisdom
What is truth?
What is truth?” This was the question that Pontius Pilate asked Jesus in John 18:38. It’s such a pivotal, eternity-altering question that I have this page marked in my Bible so I can find it immediately.

Many believe that truth is relative. Truth for you is not necessarily truth for me. 
Questioning my truth would be considered intolerant and would infringe on my rights, at least according to today’s accepted norms.
However, the Bible has a lot to say about truth which directly contradicts much of what the world believes about the matter.

First, truth is not an idea or an opinion, but a Person.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6, ESV). 
Second, the truth won’t always be popular. Remember Jesus was the embodiment of truth and they hated and murdered Him. The truth can be offensive because it tells us what’s wrong with us.
So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free’” (John 8:31-32, ESV). Jesus goes on to say that those who are in sin are slaves to sin, but those who find hope in Him are released from that bondage. “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36, ESV).

What is Truth? Truth is Jesus Christ, His death and resurrection. Truth is the Word of God, the Bible. Truth may not be popular, especially in our world today, but Truth will set you free … and not just for today, but for eternity!
YHC took us out in prayer.

8 PAX at The Ricky Bobby

At 5:20am, as YHC drove secretly behind the school to set up cones for the beatdown, a unfamiliar car rolled up on YHC in the gloom.  YHC thought it was likely some do-gooder from the general public who wanted to harass/tell YHC that he shouldn’t be prowling around on school grounds, yadda, yadda, yadda.    However, once this person got out of their car, it was obviously a PAX dressed and ready for some work.  He asked me where he should park, since he was new to this AO (or something like that).   I asked if he was a PAX posting Downrange, and he said yes.  I asked from where, and he replied,  “Folsom” .

There were 3 new faces, at least for YHC:   El Camino, Hannibal, and also Bird-Dog who was making his 3rd  appearance in his first week of F3.

During Name-O-Rama, a Truck tried run us down, but YHC and the PAX were quick on our feet and got out of the way.  (This was all captured on video, too.)

Added a “QSource Nugget” at COTthat YHC  saw while downrange at every workout COT and AO in F3-Katy, TX:     ~2 minutes of Leadership-  and Character-building talk in the morning never hurt anyone.

Explained Slack to new-ish PAX, who were unaware of it.   YHC sent these guys an invitation link to Slack before they left.   (We must do better at sharing the basics with PAX, so they don’t go a year without awareness of our primary communications tool.)

WARMUP

(Side Straddle Hops, Goofballs, and Good Morning Burpees)

THE THANG

Mosey to back parking lot

BLIMPS Suicides, Stacked;   (I’m not sure what alternative name we’re supposed to be calling them now)

Bear Crawl Plank Relay  (All PAX hold plank in a circle, while one-by-one, relay-style,  a single PAX does Bear Crawls around the circle.)

Mosey to the Track

11’s with Dips and Big Boys, across the width of the field    (Demo for newer PAX this included an math lesson about which numbers you can add together to get to 11.)

Ran on the track, stopping every 100m for unannounced # of reps, IC;   Burpees, Flutters, MonkeyHumpers, and Incline Merkins.

Back for StartEx to knock out some Side Straddle Hops, until time was up.

Time!

COT

Pledge

Announcements:

Upcoming Relays in march/April, with some spots possibly available for those interested

Primal happy our, and probably one in Folsom, but no one

Mar 16th – 2ndF lunch at Pita Wheel, we think!  See Slack for upcoming details.

March 1stF challenge:  Daily Plank Challenge (see Slack, 1st F Channel )

TAPs (Thoughts And Prayers)

Tesla’s family, especially his son

QSource Nugget:  “Courage”

Courage is “Setting aside fear to to turn Hardship into Grace”

Courage is not the absence of Fear.

• • Fear is a natural state that can and must be governed.
  • Fatigue makes cowards of us all.
  • Grace is keeping your head when everyone around you is losing theirs.

Read more about it here:  https://f3nation.com/q/courage/

Name-O-Rama on Twitter

Look out for the Truck that tried to join (or crash) our COT !   Safety 1st!

Glad to be able to lead these men today!

—Bubba Sparxxx

Eight men decided to get out of bed and come to The Labyrinth. It was also my first Q at the AO.

After a brief disclaimer, we took a mosey to Martha Rivers Park.

As we entered the park we performed the following exercises at each light pole.

WORKOUT
First Light Pole = 5 squats
Second Light Pole = 5 squats  and 5 merkins
Third Light Pole = 5 squats, 5 merkins, and 5 big boy sit ups.
Fourth Light Pole = 5 squats, 5 merkins, 5 big boy sit ups, and 5 SSH.
Fifth Light Pole = 5 squats, 5 merkins, 5 big boy sit ups, 5SSH, and 5 burpees.

**
We headed to one of the picnic shelters and did 11’s (10 dips and 1 Bobby Hurley)

Staying in the picnic shelter we did 25 derkins and 15 step ups, then 20 derkins and 20 step ups, and finally 15 derkins and 25 step ups.

We took a nice mosey in the parking lot and circled up for a dora.
100 plank jacks
200 lbc
300 SSH

After the dora we did some stretching including the windmill and gravel pickers.

Seeing we had a few minutes left, we started heading back to the start.  At the second to last light pole we lunged walk from one pole to the second pole.

We had about two minutes left so we did mountain climbers and practiced our plank exercises until time was up.

Announcements:
Purple Haze will have the Q next week at Labyrinth.
Bos has the Q at Downtown Friday morning.
Cha Ching (1st F) in Lake Wylie has the Q at The Fighting Yank
T-shirt order for Folsom and Fighting Yank shirts.

Prayers:
Palmer family – (a friend of Whoopee)
Timeframe’s aunt
Dry Rub’s friend
Sargento reported good news on his M’s biopsy.
Ukraine

12 men gathered at Prison break to get some running and rucking in.

Announcements

Need Q for Speed for Need run

Prayer requests

Wichitas family

Goudelocks

Striper’s brother

Roundups family

SA daughter

Big Pappy

My Uncle Bill

Paul Bearer took us out in prayer.

Nice evening at Midoriyama.
Slaw, Broke, and Defib out for EC.
Little chit chat upfront.
Lots of mumble chatter about “I can’t believe that I have all the long legs on the P200. I can’t believe that Oompa has a 2 mile leg at the end. I can’t believe that I have to run 20 miles. Wichita has to run forever on his first leg.”

Time to go. All veterans. Brief disclaimer.
Suggestions only. Don’t get hurt. Two of the crybabies thankfully removed themselves from our presence to go run.
Circle up from warm up.
SSH in cadence.
Mosey to parking lot by turd shack.
Align on the line. One burpee at each line. 2 dozen lines.
Lovely. Thanks Slaw.
Back to start. Ascending LBC add one at each line. Omaha after 20 lines. Thanks Slaw.

Mosey to short soccer field.
On the way we lost another P200 runner. What the heck?
Ultimate Frisbee. Luckily 8 were left. Pair off.
One team caught everything.
One team didn’t.
Slaw missed the three wire and crashed into the barrier.
The odds were heavily weighed in one team’s favor like
Defib’s weight vest.
No severe injuries.
One team won, but, all returned to the flag as friends.
Def Leppard got called a war momma since Oompa is the War daddy. Then he cried about not getting to play frisbee.
It’s called listening to the Q and not listening to the bad influence type person.
Announcements
Visitation for Wichita’s mom tomorrow at 11 Love Memorial.
Upcoming races. Need driver for P200. Need driver for SMR.
Might need another runner too.
Some H.I.M. needs to step up and Q (pick up trailers, set up) the SFN at downtown April 9.
Sargento issued a challenge for Lent.
Prayer requests
Wichita’s family
Roundup family
Def Leppard’s wrist and M
Sister Act father in law
Lil Sweet friend Danny
YHC friend from the Marines who passed.
YHC friend from the Marines recovering from prostate cancer.
Others mentioned or not remembered.
Q Fail. No pledge.
YHC took us out in prayer.
Thanks for allowing me to Q.