Month: November 2023 (Page 4 of 14)

11 HIM put in miles this morning, and 11 HIM met for coffee and a discussion about Admiral William McRaven, former Commander of the US Joint Special Operations Committee, whose notable achievements include commanding the troops that captured Saddam Hussein & rescued Captain Philips and developing the plan for Operation Neptune’s Spear, the mission that led to Osama Bin Laden being brought to justice.  For all this, our group this morning dubbed him “The Forrest Gump of the Military”.

McRaven’s books have been the subject of our QSource discussions at the Coconut Horse since about summertime, so I thought he might be a good leader to focus on for the day, to provide a little crossover between the two QSource sites.  Today’s discussion highlighted some biographical information and stories from his life, along with lessons from “Make Your Bed” and “The Wisdom of the Bullfrog“, two of his books on Leadership.

Discussions today included:

• Start Your Day with a Task Completed
  • Whether it’s making your bed, posting, prayer, or any other number of things, that morning routine starts the day off right.
• Everyone has a Plan until they get Punched in the Mouth
  • During Operation Neptune’s Spear, the first helicopter crashed, but the SEALs were prepared, with a Plan B and a Plan C that they executed to perfection, still finishing the mission ahead of schedule.
  • Preparation includes being Devil’s Advocate and going through all the “What ifs”.  For a plan for something important to be successful, it has to stand up to getting “punched in the mouth”
• We Always have Something to Prove
  • McRaven was seriously injured during a jump in 2001, resulting in his legs being caught and pulled in opposite directions as his parachute opened.  After a long recovery, he described a time when he was putting in work during morning PT.  Other SEALs wondered why after all he had been through, was he completing the 10 mile run with the other SEALs.  According to them, he didn’t have anything to prove.  He said “The day you no longer believe you have something to prove is the day you are no longer the right leader for the job.”
  • “The only easy day was yesterday.”  The grind don’t quit.
• Don’t Ever Ring the Bell
  • In SEAL training, you don’t have to endure all the hardships.  All you have to do is ring the big bell three times and it’s all done.  But don’t ever ring the bell, because if you do, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.
  • Life is hard, and there are easier ways, but the right way requires strength and perseverance.  Grit through what you’re going through.  As Gold Digger told me this morning about distance running: “The pain comes in phases, but the phases always end.  If something hurts, just keep going, soon enough, it’ll stop hurting”.
  • Freight also made a pitch for running, saying that “you always regret stopping to walk when you didn’t have to”.

Great discussion with a great group of HIMs today.  What we do in The Gloom prepares us for what we do outside of it.

Thanks to Blart for letting me grab the Q and complete my Bingo Card of Qing the F3 Gastonia AOs.  I guess it’s only temporary though, because we’ve got the new AO at Life Church in Cramerton.  I guess it’s never over & the grind don’t quit.

Yabba Dabba Doo

YHC has always been a fan of the Thanksgiving Beatdown, probably going back to the legendary Triple Post Thanksgiving of 2020, which was coincidentally right in the middle of Roscoe’s November Challenge of that year which was a big foundation for the growth and development of YHC.  When the Q was open a week out at The Goat, it needed to be gobbled up, and the excitement started.

Thanksgiving is a time for turkey.  A turkey in bowling is 3 strikes in a row.  There’s a theme brewing here.

Plans were made for a big crowd based on some chatter on Slack the night before.  The HCs were coming in strong.  It was going to be a lively bunch.

Fast forward to 0528 on Thanksgiving morning, and there’s 3 of us there:  Watts Up, Breaker Breaker, and YHC.  Shoot, 3 is the number of the day, so we’re good to go, but the headlights started showing up for a late arriving crowd.  Receipts were written for the HCs that didn’t show, and we got to business.

The Thang:

• 10 x Don Qs (IC) in the F&B parking lot – and they’re already giving the Q an earful because 10 isn’t divisible by 3

Let’s get out of this lot.  Move to the road in front of Confluence for

• Tesla Stretches
• 15 x Goofballs (IC)

Time next for a Triple Triple – obviously a Triple Nickel with 3 exercises, 3 reps, 3 rounds

• Run from the Post Office to the Stop sign
• 3 x Mike Tysons
• Run back
• 3 x Bobby Hurleys
• 3 rounds total

Next, we had 3 core exercises to do, so we planted right in front of the alleyway before the post office that leads to the long set of stairs.  Right in the middle of the road, but no one is coming, right?

• 20 x American Hammers (IC)
• 20 x Toe Touches (IC)

Somebody came, driving a truck, just to drop off a package at 0545 in the morning.  She apologized, but we hate she missed the…

• 20 x Spatchcocks (IC), correctly done with the echo of “Spatchcock” ringing out at the end of every 4 count.  These guys are pros.

Staring down the alley, there’s a strategically placed cone, with the suggestion of “3 Kraken Burpees”, which we would do every time we passed that cone for the rest of the workout.

• 3 x Kraken Burpees (OYO)

Now we get into groups of 3s, for the “Turkey Dinner”, which was some complicated nonsense that was obviously not as bad as it sounded.

2 partners stay together and work through a circuit around the main block of shops and restaurants at the base of the steps.  4 corners, no stacking with the following:

• 30 x Squats (OYO)
• 30 x Merkins (OYO)
• 30 x Flutter Kicks (OYO)
• 3 x Kraken Burpees (OYO)

The 3rd partner leaves the group to climb the stairs, then chooses to jump rope or do monkey humpers, before running around the building to the Kraken Burpees cone before repeating that process 3 times.

• Climb Stairs
• 30 x Jump Ropes or Monkey Humpers (OYO)
• Run around building
• 3 x Kraken Burpees
• Repeat for 3 rounds total

Once finished with 3 rounds, the 3rd partner finds the other 2 and swaps out with one PAX, so there was always 2 partners working together through the 4 exercises and always 1 on the triple course, swapping out when they get finished with the triple course until everyone finished the triple course.

The Merkins got tough, probably as a result of a stupid number of sets of 3 Kraken Burpees that just snuck up on us, but we pushed on.

Dessert was supposed to be 300 Moroccan Nightclubs, divided up among each group of 3 PAX, but we didn’t really have time for dessert today, and we were saving room for the Pumpkin Pie later today.

Round 2 of Core:

• 15 x American Hammers (IC)
• 15 x Toe Touches (IC)
• 15 x Spatchcocks (IC)

Divisibility problem solved.

Last up in our groups was a little “Zombie Apocalypse”, which was a new one where the group of 3 PAX

• Zombie Walk

the length of the store fronts, from the statue to the Stop sign, with 1 PAX breaking off at a time to mosey to the Stop sign for

• 3 x Jungle Boy Squats (OYO)

and then mosey back.  The mosey distance gets shorter each time, but it was a funny sight to see a line of PAX Zombie Walking towards you as you’re running towards them.

Anyways, we finished that, but right at the end, so we didn’t get to Round 3 of the Core work.  Plenty of 3s on the day though.

We pledged at COT, and were led by Goose on an impromptu discussion of what we were thankful for.  It was a good discussion, and we all know not to take COT for granted, and at the same time, sometimes we can lose track of just how important the COT is.  The honesty and humility are part of what makes it not just a workout group.

I think we all got what we paid for.  It was a privilege to lead this group and get our Thanksgiving’s off to a good start.

Yabba Dabba Doo

12 men got in some miles in all different ways.  Rooney, fresh off his first post showed up seemingly unsure of what he’d gotten himself into.  He jumped in with Chili and his big brother Slaw, and Cherie Berry caught up to them for a little run/walk action.  If there’s an EH’er of the year award, it goes to Cherie Berry this year for bringing out everyone he knows.  Then again, Hunchback even brought out his dog, so there’s still work to do, CB.

Anyways, everyone made it back to the COT by their normal time, except for the Site Q, who was relying on the clock in downtown Dallas that apparently hasn’t been right in years.

The Chubbs/Rum Runner combo has made a consistent presence at COTs in Dallas lately, though they must be with Bedpan using that Dallas clock.

Good job men.  Thanks for the opportunity to lead.

Yabba Dabba Doo

3 Ruckers, 2 Runners, and 1 Fart Sacker for QSource.

Topic for today was Apprenticeship. A very important lesson in the Leave Right section of the book. Work yourself out of your position.

Announcements

December 2:

Christmas party

Convergence

Anchor Man will be bringing bone marrow tests kits to these two events, as well as a holiday event in our neighborhood (The Vineyards on Lake Wylie). 10am-1pm there will be a 5K and 1 Miler as well as a blood drive.

December 9:

Beer Ruck

Prayers

Turtle Man

Montana (continued healing)

Jane Fonda (house)

I gave the Pax a choice of “the red pill or the blue pill”. In case you live in the Matrix and have no idea what this is, or simply haven’t seen the movie in forever and forget which color was what decision… the red pill unlocks the matrix and the blue pill is a placebo pill. All the Pax who voted, voted for the red pill (though, I did have a running WOD prepared for the blue pill option).

I was curious to see if anyone would pick up that this is the 3rd time in a row that I’ve Q’d this workout. I’ve modified it slightly for each AO I was at… but overall it’s the same movements and structure.  No one noticed… shows how many people actually reach the back blasts I guess.  Oh well… here’s how it went down.

Warm Up:
25 Side Straddle Shops – in cadence
10 Gravel Pickers – in cadence
15 mnt man poopers – in cadence
20 ‘Roccan Night Clubs – in cadence
20 Arm Cirles Front – in cadence
20 Arm Cirles Back – in cadence

Circle Up:
Iron Hulks (1:4 ratio of merkin to air presses) adding one with each person in the circle (times to rounds… waiting on Westside to get out of the crapper and from having to change his drawers)

Bear Crawl to the middle of the parking lot: 10 flying squirrels

Bear Crawl to my truck (middle of the parking lot): 10 flying squirrels

Pickup Yard Blocks…

Overhead clap with blocks to the tennis courts

Tha Thang:
20 – SSH – in cadence
20 – Superman to Iron Man with the blocks
20 – Plank Jacks
Run a lap…

20 – CDDs on the blocks
20 – Flutters
20 – Hand release merkins with a brick row
Run a lap…

20 – Arnold Presses with blocks
20 – American Hammers with blocks
20 – Overheard Extensions with blocks together
Run a lap…

10 – Bent Raise Rotation (Lat Raise – Forward Raise – Reverse)
20 – Freddy Mercurys
20 – Nolan Ryans with the blocks (10 each side)
Run a lap…

20 – Toy Soldiers with a brick/block
20 – Windshield Wipers while holding blocks
40 – Block curls
Run a lap…

20 – Clean and Press with the blocks
40 – Brick Fly crunches
20 – Tricep Extensions
Run a lap…

Vote for the best shoulder workout… ab work out… and I pick a final 3rd…

Carry the blocks back to my truck while doing overhead claps with the blocks

Circle up and finish with a round of Ab work…

Announcements:

• Convergence at the Yank next Saturday, Dec 2nd @ 7am.
• Christmas Party at Lewis Farms, Dec 2nd @ 6pm
• Beer Ruck Dec 9th in Belmont

Prayer Requests:

• Turtle Man and his family
• Huckleberry
• Oopma Loompa
• Ozark
• Stogie’s mother-in-law with cracked vertebrae

Only 3 posted before the ultimate frisbee tournament. Before starting we discussed what we were all thankful for.  Then we ran the Defib route through willow creek. Much to be thankful for today and always!

The pub men ran to the armory and back

Pledge:
We rucked Linus’ route.  If you reverse, it becomes Bandits.

Announcements:

12/9:  Beer ruck in Belmont
12/5:  Hard or maybe soft Grand Opening of Ace Hardware.

Prayers:

Hunchback has young friend with ALS.  Prayers for her and family.

Honored, Linus

D- bag hwy, some dips and derkins, tossed the football around at the end.

Syitg

Ball Joint