Month: December 2022 (Page 8 of 11)

It was Sunday morning and the temperature hovered in the high 40’s. Perfect for a run. As the Q, I showed up on time – that’s right, 6:29:50. Stroganoff, Roscoe and Maybeline were gathered. Stroganoff yelled at me to hurry up. I yelled back for the runners to take off because the Q was gonna ruck. It was going to be just like that. Those three men took off and I went the opposite direction. About 45 minutes later we reconvened at the starting spot.

Roscoe asks if there are any announcements…”step off Nantan, this is my Q,” I say. Only one week into his Natanship and apparently the Old Nantan ways were shared in the onboarding. While I fumbled through my phone looking for an American flag so we could say the pledge, Stroganoff suggests a Q should be better prepared. As the Q, I quickly suggest a good Site Q would have already planted the flag. Guess who the Site Q of Coconut Horse is? Candor is being spread thick like a peanut butter sandwich.

We moved on and got through announcements, prayer requests for Turtleman, Stroganoff’s co-worker that lost their son unexpectedly, and Whoopee who is suffering from the ‘Vid. I took us out. We moved indoors. Roscoe bought me a coffee because I forgot my wallet – thank you brother. We then covered QSource Q4.8 on Team Accountability. Oh – fresh off his VQ (5 years in mind you) Hunch Back joined us for the Q-Source. He needs to come back. One of the points was a Q should not only lead by example, but the Q must exceed his Team’s Standards. I recounted a story when former Appalachian State Football coach, the legendary Jerry Moore told a story about running on a treadmill for hours as his team arrived to the weight room and having his team see his light gray shirt soaking wet because he wanted his team to see him working as hard as he could to set the example. I think I saw a tear in the corner of Roscoe’s eye. Those were the glory days. We all went on to share some stories about team accountability and the various challenges we have faced in our work places.  Some men are Kimonos and some are Toxic. It is imperative to uncover those personalities so not to disrupt the Dynamism of the team. The chapter concludes with advice on the Q not giving up on the willing. There is a difference between the man who can’t as opposed to the man who won’t meet the Standard.

If you’ve never been to a Q-Source, come check out one of the three on Sunday morning. If that doesn’t work for your schedule – start one during the week. In the first quarter, you can get an extra point for attending. See 1st F Q Flintstone’s pre-blast about the 2023 Challenge.

It’s the first Saturday of December & we’ve got ourselves a Christmas party tonight. No better time than now to get  in a little work to prepare for the extra calories that will be consumed from the debauchery to come. It’s my First Q in a while since we all tried our best to partake in his excellency’s New Q November I haven’t had to plan out one of these in a bit. Let’s do this. Quick warmup ladder down style.

SSH and Mike Tyson’s                              25/5, 20/4, 15/3, 10/2, 5/1

Followed that up with some:

Gravel Pickers IC                                                   MNC IC                                                                   Mountain Climbers IC

We finished off this Warmup with some static and active stretches and now we’re off. We headed over to the newly rebuilt Block Wall over by the Church and FD. Here we did some 11’s.
Single Leg step ups on the Block Wall and Calf Raises on the curb across the road. Upon finishing up we moseyed over to the Courthouse for some 4 corners. We did 5 Mike Tyson’s at each corner around the Courthouse Block. Once finished with a round of that we headed over to the dreaded Kotter’s Korner and ran 4 corners of 10 ATG Squats per corner around this Block. Moseyed back over to the FD. Paused here for The Pledge and a few more Mike Tyson’s why not right. We’re now headed back towards the Old School parking lot just in time to let everyone know I’ve got a truckload of you guessed it Blocks. Everyone grabbed their coupon of choice and we did 7 rounds of:

7 Thrusters                                                               7 Goblet Squats                                                     7 Curls                                                                         7 Tricep Ext.                                                             7 Alpos

We followed each round with a rifle carry of 25 yards. It was at this time that Gumby discussed with us the amazing and very interesting usages of Asprin and Chloraseptic Throat spray. (ask him I’m not getting into it on here) Needless to say we all learned a little something interesting today. Then  once the last carry was in it was time to head in for the COT.

There always seem to be lots and lots of prayers this time of year so be sure to check out the prayer list frequently.

This wasn’t a barn burner by any means but we got in a lot of Quality Reps and @ 2.5 miles as well which was the goal.

Thanks guys for the constant push and encouragement until the next time.

It was a cold rainy morning but F3 continues on – rain or shine. Good work men!

14 men showed for the Downtown workout!!

Warmup:  The usual

The Thang:

Mosey towards Main Street stopping at end of buildings to grab some wall.  Here we got in 3 Rounds of 10 Hip Slappers (ic) & 10 Dirty Hookups(ic).

Mosey to bottom level of parking deck.  5 exercises are called here for 5 Rounds.  Complete the 5 exercises then run to top using ramps and the stairs back down to complete 1 Round

10 Burpees

15 Big Boys

20 Hand Release Merkins

25 Mountain Climbers

30 Squats

Run to top, back down stairs to complete 1 Round

Mosey around the block to street that goes towards Pavilion   Stopping at each light pole on the right and perform 5 Mike Tyson’s  as we head back to COT.   Once back at Pavilion we did 10 Kraken Burpees then Time!!

Announcements

Nameorama

Prayer Request

Appreciate the opportunity to lead.  Nice work men!

SA

2022 is winding down, and we’re in the season to celebrate our victories, learn from our mistakes, and turn our attention to 2023.

We’re all going to have our individual goals, and a well thought out 8-block can help us all figure out what those are.  But as PAX in F3 Nation, we all have a 1st F focus.  We all aim to “Get Right” which often starts with fitness.  Those who are already “Living Right” will aim in 2023 to keep up and maintain the work they’ve put in.  Regardless of where we are individually, what matters is that we are accelerating our fitness.  There is no stasis.  We’re either accelerating or decelerating.

One of the most important things I’ve learned as a PAX in F3 Gastonia is the importance of consistency.  Dirt & Watts Up’s EC runs before bootcamps and Roscoe’s November Challenge to put in 25 workouts showed me how to push rocks, and I learned that the best things worth achieving don’t come quickly, but by being persistent and watching the transformation happen over time.

So here’s a 3 month Challenge.  It’s simple.

• For every post, you get 1 point
• For every pound you lose, you get 1 point
• For every time you attend Q-Source, you get 1 bonus point
• Get a minimum of 20 points each month, January through March

Those who complete the Pushing Rocks Challenge and get a minimum of 20 points every month will receive a patch commemorating their consistency.

If you post 4 times a week and attend Q-Source 3 of 4 weeks, and your weight stays the same, you should be fine to get your 20 points.  If you post twice a week and lose 12 pounds, you should be fine for one month.  Just don’t find those pounds the next month, or you’ll be in trouble, because

• For every pound you gain, you LOSE 1/2 a point

So there are many ways to get it done.  With some planning, you can find out what works best for you, and do it.

But you don’t have to stop at 20 points.  We know Seuss and Gearwrench won’t.  As men who are fitness focused, we can get a little competitive, so we will keep a leaderboard of who accumulates the most points for the month.  If you post a lot, cut a bunch of weight, and come to all 4 Q-Sources, you can put up a lot of points, and bragging rights in the region.

Speaking of our region and competition, one of the major things that makes our region unique is our territorial size and the subregions that exist within F3 Gastonia.  We’ve got Folsom guys and PainLabbers, Pub Runners and guys who only ever go to Mt. Hollywood.  And we know that as hard as we work for ourselves, we work that much harder for the man working next to us.  So we’re going to turn this into a team competition.

When you sign up for the challenge, you’ll be asked to choose an AO to represent.  Your options will be:

• Folsom
• Midoriyama
• Gashouse/PainLab
• The Fighting Yank
• Mt. Hollywood

Once we have the full list of PAX who are up for the challenge, we will form teams of 4-10 PAX who will compete against one another.  As part of the team competition, we will be tracking:

• Total Points (per PAX if teams are uneven)
• Percentage of PAX who reach 20 points for the month

If your team accumulates a lot of points AND everyone hits their 20 points, you will have a good chance at winning.

The team prize will be the honor and privilege to lead the 2nd Quarter Convergence at your chosen site.

So while we will have Folsom competing against Mt. Hollywood, we will also have Folsom competing against Folsom, as there will be AOs with enough participating PAX that they will have more than 1 team.

So what will you need to do to be part of the challenge?

• Sign-up – Please sign up by Christmas Day so I can make teams the following week and have things ready to go on New Years Day. (Sign-up Form on Google coming soon)
• Send me your weight on December 31st.  This is on the honor system, and will be entered on a spreadsheet that all participants in the challenge can see.  If you lie about your weight, prepare to be called out.
• Commit to getting 20 points per month, however you’ve got to do it.
• Commit to supporting your teammates and really all the PAX in the region.
• Spread the word, and EH your fellow PAX to join in.  The goal is to encourage acceleration across the region.

There will be other details that need to be figured out (weekly weigh-ins for more immediate accountability and leaderboard updates?, how do we get guys involved who join in late?, and other things I’m sure I haven’t thought of), so be patient as we figure things out.  That said, if you foresee any issues or see a way to troubleshoot a problem, please send it along.

Keep on Pushing the Rock.

Yabba Dabba Doo

1. Start at Center Street
2. Mosey to playground
3. Warmups
   1. In cadence
      1. 20 side straddle hops
      2. 10 Gravel Pickers

• 10 Imperial Walkers

4. Mosey to Parking Lot of Goat Island (stop 1)
   1. Split into 2 or 3 teams depending on amount that shows
      1. Each team has half a deck of cards in front of them and the suits are as follows
         1. Diamonds: Merkins
         2. Spades: Squats
         3. Heart: Mountain Climbers
         4. Clubs: LBC’s
            1. Same rules as workout deck, # cards +10, Royal 25, Ace 50
            2. Each team member draws a card and performs the corresponding exercise
            3. After performing the exercise, run to the opposite end of the parking lot and back, draw and repeat
         5. Mosey to Church Parking lot as a team once completed (Stop 2)
            1. Teams go to corresponding half deck
            2. Same as stop 1
         6. Mosey as a team to start point on Center St.
            1. First team to finish the full deck and run captures the flag.

Rules: Each team member will draw a card and do to corresponding exercise. After the exercise is performed they will run to the opposite side of the parking lot of either Goat Island or the Church and back and draw another card. If the time runs shorts, at 5 minutes left each team member draws 1 last card then once finished runs back to the flag. First team finished captures the flag. If time runs long, once flag is captured, Mary will be performed until remaining time is up. Jokers will be present in the deck, if a team member draws a Joker, the Joker is removed and the deck is started over. Team may not move on to the next stop until deck has been completed.