7 of us showed for the run or the ruck.

Whoopee was passed but headed back for nature calling with a pack on.

Stroganoff was back!!!

Gastone Out

11 Him’s showed, we did a bootcamp. 1 Whoopee came for a pre Bootcamp but had to leave to use the restroom.

The Thang:

25 SSH

15 Imperial Walkers

15 Diamond Merkins OYO

Mosey to the school

To the long cover path at Robinson with a wall.

20 Dips, 15 Step Ups each leg, 15 Derkins

15 Dips, 15 Step Ups,  15 Diamonds

10 Dips, 15 Step Ups, 15 CDD

5 Dips, 15 Step Ups, 15 Right had back staggered Merkins

10 Dips, 15 Step Ups, 15 Left Had Staggered

15 Dips, 15 Step Ups, Wide Arm Merkins

20 Dips, 20 Step Ups, 20 Burpee’s

Mosey to back of school to the railings.

25 Calf Raises

Then everyone up on the bars making a bridge. Bear crawl through then the next guy. We went up the one side and down the other. Then we rinsed and repeated.

Walk 25 yards

Mosey back half way in Food Lion parking lot. SSH until everyone is in place.

Someone mumbled about flutter’s.

So 40 in cadence Flutter’s.

The Moleskin:

I gave a real clear and true explanation of the importance of form. If 20 Merkins are called it would be better to do 5 with perfect for than 20 with half the form. The gain that you will never have if you cut corner’s. Basically, do what you can do but do it correct. If you do this your growth in the workouts will be much bigger.

Pledge & Prayers,

Gastone Out!

We live in a world that is enamored with “self.” The culture around us teaches us to focus on our appearance, feelings, and personal desires as the top priority. The goal, it seems, is to chase the highest level of happiness possible. The danger from this kind of thinking, however, becomes painfully apparent once inside a marriage relationship.

If there were ever a word that basically means the opposite of love, it is selfishness.Unfortunately it is something that is ingrained into every person from birth. You can see it in the way young children act, and often in the way adults mistreat one another. Almost every sinful action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It is a trait we hate in other people but justify in ourselves. Yet you cannot point out the many ways your spouse is selfish without admitting that you can be selfish too. That would be hypocritical.

Why do we have such low standards for ourselves but high expectations for our mate? The answer is a painful pill to swallow. We are all selfish.

When a husband puts his interests, desires, and priorities in front of his wife, that’s a sign of selfishness. When a wife constantly complains about the time and energy she spends meeting the needs of her husband, that’s a sign of selfishness. But love “does not seek its own” (1 Corinthians 13:5). Loving couples—the ones who are enjoying the full purpose of marriage—are bent on taking good care of the other flawed human they get to share life with. That’s because true love looks for ways to say “yes.”

One ironic aspect of selfishness is that even generous actions can be selfish if the motive is to gain bragging rights or receive a reward. If you do even a good thing to deceitfully manipulate your husband or wife, you are still being selfish. The bottom line is that you either make decisions out of love for others or love for yourself.

Love is never satisfied except in the welfare of others. You can’t be acting out of real love and selfishness at the same time. Choosing to love your mate will cause you to say “no” to what you want so you can say “yes” to what they need. That’s putting the happiness of your partner above your own. It doesn’t mean you can never experience happiness, but you don’t negate the happiness of your spouse so you can enjoy it yourself.

Love also leads to inner joy. When you prioritize the well-being of your mate, there is a resulting fulfillment that cannot be duplicated by selfish actions. This is a benefit that God created and reserves for those who genuinely demonstrate love. The truth is, when you relinquish your rights for the sake of your mate, you get a chance to lose yourself to the greater purpose of marriage.

Nobody knows you as well as your spouse. And that means no one will be quicker to recognize a change when you deliberately start sacrificing your wants and wishes to make sure his or her needs are met.

If you find it hard to sacrifice your own desires to benefit your spouse, then you may have a deeper problem with selfishness than you want to admit.

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I truly want what’s best for my husband or wife?

• Do I want them to feel loved by me?

• Do they believe I have their best interests in mind?

• Do they see me as looking out for myself first?

Whether you like it or not, you have a reputation in the eyes of those around you, especially in the eyes of your spouse. But is it a loving reputation? Remember, your marriage partner also has the challenge of loving a selfish person. So determine to be the first to demonstrate real love to them, with your eyes wide open. And when all is said and done, you’ll both be more fulfilled.

“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves”

-Philippians 2:3

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor.

—Romans 12:10

Today’s Dare

Whatever you put your time, energy, and money into will become more important  to you. It’s hard to care for something you are not investing in. Along with  restraining from negative comments, buy your spouse something that says, “I was thinking of you today.”

It was my honor to meet up with 10 HIMs to sharpen some iron, get stronger, improve my attitude, and have some fun to start the day.  We did that with some running, merkins, CDD’s, jump squats, squats, LBC’s, and various other excercises.  It was such a great way to start the day.

Timeframe

So after the last six weeks of bird hunting and otehr assorted events including a visit to Gashouse, YHC made a Q appearance at old homeplace, The Fighting Yank. Finally a real October morning to do it on. So with little fanfare we got right to it in the gloom. Went like this:

COP:

Stretches, arm and torso

SSH X 20

IW X 20

Copperhead Squats X 10

Plank position

Hand to palm (R-L)

Leg under body (R-L)

Mtn. Climbers X 20

Mosey over to playground, count off by 3s

1s – 10 pullups

2s – 10 dips

3s – 10 big boy situps

Rotate 1-2-3, Run Heartbreak hill and back.

Rinse and repeat X 3

mosey to the top of Heartbreak.

Halfpipes X 2

Top of HBH – 5 HR merkins

Bottom pad: 5 jump squats

Top of main street – 5 monkey humpers

Back to bottom pad – repeat JS.

Mosey over to the Corner of Knowledge

Stepups X 10 (total)

Dirkins X 10

Elevated situps X 10

Run to the other end of the school and call an Omaha with the gate open down to the lower level with stairs.

Series of 7s,

Bottom – Burpees

Top – Big boy situps

Run back to the Corner, repeat stepups, dirkins, situps X 20

Mosey to the Field of Dreams for Bear Crawl Slalom!

*3 rolls for all pax to the end of the field.

SSH X 10

Squats X 10

Run back to the end:

1/2 way, 10 CDDs

End – 20 CDDs

Mosey back to HBH for 2 more halfpipes

Back on the pad for some warm down stretches.

Pledge and done!

NMM:

Solid effort b ythe pax today. Welcome FNG Tinder who came out because a coworker he has not seen in 5 years IMed him to try it. He did. Talk abut a blind date internet romance! You never know do you? Glad to have him out.

Again, solid effort on a great morning. Major announcement, region convergance next Saturday. Should be a blast. Hate to miss but YHC will be in Starkvegas.

Honor and pleasure to lead this AO and these guys!

Tesla

Kindness is love in action. If patience is how love reacts in order to minimize a negative circumstance, kindness is how love acts to maximize a positive circumstance. Patience avoids a problem; kindness creates a blessing. One is preventive, the other proactive. These two sides of love are the cornerstones on which many of the other attributes we will discuss are built.

Love makes you kind. And kindness makes you like able. When you’re kind, people want to be around you. They see you as being good to them and good for them.

The Bible keys in on the importance of kindness: “Do not let kindness and truth leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. So you will find favor and good repute in the sight of God and man” (Proverbs 3:3–4). Kind people simply find favor wherever they go. Even at home. But “kindness” can feel a little generic when you try defining it, much less living it. So let’s break kindness down into four basic core ingredients:

Gentleness. When you’re operating from kindness, you’re careful how you treat your spouse, never being unnecessarily harsh. You’re sensitive. Tender. Even if you need to say hard things, you’ll bend over backwards to make your rebuke or challenge as easy to hear as possible. You speak the truth in love.

Helpfulness. Being kind means you meet the needs of the moment. If it’s housework, you get busy. A listening ear? You give it. Kindness graces a wife with the ability to serve her husband without worrying about her rights. Kindness makes a husband curious to discover what his wife needs, then motivates him to be the one who steps up and ensures those needs are met—even if his are put on hold.

Willingness. Kindness inspires you to be agreeable. Instead of being obstinate, reluctant, or stubborn, you cooperate, you stay flexible. Rather than complaining and making excuses, you look for reasons to compromise and accommodate. A kind husband ends thousands of potential arguments by his willingness to listen first rather than demand his way.

Initiative. Kindness thinks ahead, then takes the first step. It doesn’t sit around waiting to be prompted or coerced before getting off the couch. The kind husband or wife will be the one who greets first, smiles first, serves first, and forgives first. They don’t require the other to get his or her act together before showing love. When acting from kindness, you see the need, then make your move. First.

Jesus creatively described the kindness of love in His parable of the Good Samaritan, found in the Bible—Luke, chapter 10. A Jewish man attacked by robbers is left for dead on a remote road. Two religious leaders, respected among their people, walk by without choosing to stop. Too busy. Too important. Too fond of clean hands. But a common man of another race—the hated Samaritans, whose dislike for the Jews was both bitter and mutual—sees this stranger in need and is moved with compassion. Crossing all cultural boundaries and risking ridicule, he stops to help the man. Bandaging his wounds and putting him on his own donkey, he carries him to safety and pays all his medical expenses out of his own pocket.

Where years of racism had caused strife and division, one act of kindness brought two enemies together. Gently. Helpfully. Willingly. Taking the initiative, this man demonstrated true kindness in every way.

Wasn’t kindness one of the key things that drew you and your spouse together in the first place? When you married, weren’t you expecting to enjoy his or her kindness for the rest of your life? Didn’t your mate feel the same way about you? Even though the years can take the edge off that desire, your enjoyment in marriage is still linked to the daily level of kindness expressed.

The Bible describes a woman whose husband and children bless and praise her. Among her noble attributes are these: “She opens her mouth in wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue” (Proverbs 31:26). How about you? How would your husband or wife describe you on the kindness meter? How harsh are you? How gentle and helpful? Do you wait to be asked, or do you take the initiative to help? Don’t wait for your spouse to be kind first.

It is difficult to demonstrate love when you feel little to no motivation. But love in its truest sense is not based on feelings. Rather, love determines to show thoughtful actions even when there seems to be no reward. You will never learn to love until you learn to demonstrate kindness.

Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. 

– Ephesians 4:32

Today’s Dare

In addition to saying nothing negative to your spouse again today, do at least one unexpected gesture as an act of kindness.

Love works. It is life’s most powerful motivator and has far greater depth and meaning than most people realize. It always does what is best for others and can empower us to face the greatest of problems. We are born with a lifelong thirst for love. Our hearts desperately need it like our lungs need oxygen. Love changes our motivation for living. Relationships become meaningful with it. No marriage is successful without it.

Love is built on two pillars that best define what it is. Those pillars are patience and kindness. All other characteristics of love are extensions of these two attributes. And that’s where your dare will begin. With patience.

Love will inspire you to become a patient person. When you choose to be patient, you respond in a positive way to a negative situation. You are slow to anger. You choose to have a long fuse instead of a quick temper. Rather than being restless and demanding, love helps you settle down and begin extending mercy to those around you. Patience brings an internal calm during an external storm.

No one likes to be around an impatient person. It causes you to overreact in angry, foolish, and regrettable ways. The irony of anger toward a wrongful action is that it spawns new wrongs of its own. Anger almost never makes things better. In fact, it usually generates additional problems. But patience stops problems in their tracks. More than biting your lip, more than clapping a hand over your mouth, patience is a deep breath. It clears the air. It stops foolishness from whipping its scorpion tail all over the room. It is a choice to control your emotions rather than allowing your emotions to control you, and shows discretion instead of returning evil for evil.

If your spouse offends you, do you quickly retaliate, or do you stay under control? Do you find that anger is your emotional default when treated unfairly? If so, you are spreading poison rather than medicine.

Anger is usually caused when the strong desire for something is mixed with disappointment or grief. You don’t get what you want and you start heating up inside. It is often an emotional reaction that flows out of our own selfishness, foolishness, or evil motives.

Patience, however, makes us wise. It doesn’t rush to judgment but listens to what the other person is saying. Patience stands in the doorway where anger is clawing to burst in, but waits to see the whole picture before passing judgment. The Bible says, “He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who is quick-tempered exalts folly” (Proverbs 14:29).

As sure as a lack of patience will turn your home into a war zone, the practice of patience will foster peace and quiet. “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute” (Proverbs 15:18). Statements like these from the Bible book of Proverbs are clear principles with timeless relevance. Patience is where love meets wisdom. And every marriage needs that combination to stay healthy.

Patience helps you give your spouse permission to be human. It understands that everyone fails. When a mistake is made, it chooses to give them more time than they deserve to correct it. It gives you the ability to hold on during the tough times in your relationship rather than bailing out under the pressure.

But can your spouse count on having a patient wife or husband to deal with? Can she know that locking her keys in the car will be met by your understanding rather than a demeaning lecture that makes her feel like a child? Can he know that cheering during the last seconds of a football game won’t invite a loud-mouthed laundry list of ways he should be spending his time? It turns out that few people are as hard to live with as an impatient person.

What would the tone and volume of your home be like if you tried this biblical approach: “See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another” (1 Thessalonians 5:15).

Few of us do patience very well, and none of us do it naturally. But wise men and women will pursue it as an essential ingredient to their marriage relationships. That’s a good starting point to demonstrate true love.

This Love Dare journey is a process, and the first thing you must resolve to possess is patience. Think of it as a marathon, not a sprint. But it’s a race worth running.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
—Ephesians 4:2 NIV

TODAY’S DARE
The first part of this dare is fairly simple. Although love is communicated in a number of ways, our words often reflect the condition of our heart. For the next day, resolve to demonstrate patience and to say nothing negative to your spouse at all. If the temptation arises, choose not to say anything. It’s better to hold your than to say something you’ll regret.

I have been looking forward to this workout for about 2 months now. I’ve enjoyed being the Site Q at Folsom for the past year, but F3 is about developing leaders and the time has come for YHC to hand over the reigns, so to speak. It is important to give people the opportunity to let them develop, infuse new ideas, and to give those who were leading a break! I took to Twitter Friday announcing to everyone that Folsom wasn’t ready for what was about to happen and, after this workout, I’m pretty sure everyone would agree that no one was prepared for what was coming! I hate the date coincided with the Ragnar relay and some men missed the big surprise! That being said, 13 HIMs made their way to the Gloom of Folsom this glorious morning! Wait, hold up, what do my curious little eyes see…we have an FNG! Welcome Kingpin to Folsom!

I give the disclaimer and we get in a quick warmup to get things flowing…SSH, Grass/Cotton/Cherry/Whatever Pickers, and Toy Soldiers. Pretty standard for my Qs.
Let’s mosey to the flag. The FNG is probably thinking what has he gotten himself into because, let’s face it, running uphill to the entrance of Folsom sucks when you ARE used to it. It is especially bad on your first day! Pizza Man led the guys in some ab work while I picked up the six. Pledge and we mosey back toward the Gazebo for…..

Walls of Jericho – 7 each of Burpees, Big Boy Sit-ups, Squats, and Plank Jacks, take a lap around the grassy knoll…..repeat 7 times. As the first group finishes, we round up the 6. Good work men, but we have to keep this thing moving.

It is time for the moment everyone has waited for. I have seen a few Site Q hand-offs before and it’s usually done in the COT (at least, from what I’ve seen). However, I wanted to do a co-Q where I handed over the Q of the workout and Site Q duties at one time, symbolic of passing the ‘lead’ from one man to another. I thought long and hard about this. Who was the right man for the job? The man who takes over needs to be someone who will leave it better than he found it. It needs to be a man who can ‘rally the troops’, inspire others, and
delegate. It needs to be a man who supports and encourages others.

Gentleman, the next Site Q of Folsom is Allen Tate! I told you Folsom was not ready for what I had in store! You really thought I was stepping aside without some shenanigans? No way! I’m going out with a bang! People were mad. People were asking if they could veto. People were afraid the FNG was about to get named Roman Helmet or Minivan. It was awesome! Sweat was replaced with Haterade, flowing from the pores of the PAX!

Our new Site Q had some “thangs” to say and then proceeds to call a Slaw-ter Starter! It was not lost on the PAX that is a Slaw-ter STARTER and is typically called during warmup..at the START…. but he called this IN THE MIDDLE of the workout). 20 burpees OYO.

Allen Tate begins to talk about leadership and how you should always be looking for the next leader. After much though and consideration, he has decided to hand over the Site Q duties to none other than Big Pappy! Allen Tate couldn’t have picked a better successor. It’s almost as if I had picked him ahead of time and named Allen Tate as Site Q just to mess with y’all! Ok, maybe I did, but let the record show (and there were witnesses) that Allen Tate was, at one time, the Site Q at Folsom!

Back to our regularly scheduled program – Big Pappy led us on a journey across the park, in search of the Folsom Grail. When Huck found out we were running after a beer chalice, he was reinvigorated! (The 40-day challenge is nearly complete big fella!) As we made wrong turns,or whenever Pappy felt like it, we did combinations of LBCs, Flutter Kicks, Crunchy Frogs, American Hammers, Squats, and Lunges. A few burpees were thrown in for good measure. After finding the Grail in the cemetery near the prison, we mosey back to the parking lot.

Thanks to Rockabilly for coming out after he got off work. He wasn’t able to find us since we were running all over Dallas looking for the Grail, but it was good to see him during COT. He is leading Starkville (kettlebell/coupon workout) on Monday’s at 6 pm and San Quentin (rucking) on Fridays at 6 pm. Both meet at Biggerstaff Park beside the tennis courts. Come get some afternoon work in!

Announcements: Christmastown 5k…spots are limited! It will be a Speed for Need event again! Medicine Woman and Breaker Breaker (I think Breaker was the 2nd guy) are Q-ing the event. Props to you for stepping up!!!! If you know someone who may be a candidate to ride in a chair, let MW know! Also, we have a convergence at the Yank on Oct 19 @ 7 pm. Remember Starkville and San Quentin!

Moleskin:
I was truly honored in late 2018 when Sparky asked me to take over as Site Q at Folsom. I was fresh off nearly 3 months of injured reserve and ready to get back into the groove of working out. Sparky did a great job so all I really needed to do was “not mess it up”!

Thanks to all of the guys across F3 Gastonia who came out for a guest-Q over the past year. With 3 workouts a week, things can easily get stale and monotonous, but you guys continually brought variety and energy! I believe everyone I asked to come out to Q a workout stepped up (except that one time Short Sale stood us up LOL…but he made it up!!!!). Thanks also to the Folsom regulars and, when I say regulars, I’m also talking about the Midoriyama guys who also post regularly on Saturdays (you guys are “Folsom guys” too!). From what I have seen, Folsom guys step up to take Qs unlike any other AO in the area. With 12-14 workouts a month, I really never “had” to Q because of lack of guys stepping up. In fact, we started limiting to one Q per month most of the year so all the guys had a chance to Q!

I like to reflect from time to time. Looking back at Folsom this past year, there are plenty of good times and great memories as well as a few accomplishments! A few new guys joined us this year, which is always exciting! A few guys slipped into and out of Kotter-status along the way (booooo!) and we continue to encourage and “extend the hand” to bring them back. Many of the guys that have been around longer than I continue to keep pushing the rock! We had a Field Day. We (well, Volt and I) ran in the snow in December. We dumped a cooler of freezing water on Sister Act at Touchdown Beat-down. Folsom participated in the P200…not just one guy, but many of us, and now some are doing the Tuna and a half-marathon. We raised a few bucks for a missionary with the epic Tronmoss 5k. Allen Tate started a bible study on Thursday nights and it’s going strong after 3 months (he still doesn’t have any furniture though). Some of our men helped spawn new AOs. We even got our own section at the Country Kitchen, widely regarded as the best coffeeteria in F3 Nation (C-SPAN said it, not me…ok, well, I actually did say it too). We all grew a little closer. Not only did we grow closer to our existing friends, but we met some new ones along the way and are developing relationships we can lean on! We’ve grown in all 3 F’s!

I certainly can’t take credit for all of these things I’m just glad to see Folsom has continued to grow and I’m glad to know I had a part in facilitating that! Now, I hand it over to Allen Tate who quickly handed it over to Big Pappy….whom I’m am quite certain will take Folsom to even greater heights!

HIPAA – when are you getting that damn logo done? LOL

-Montross

Today was another good day. Six men posted with heavy purses and got some good work in. We started with the pledge then circled back for Hushpuppy. He was not hungry for a Sammich so he went his own way with headphones on. We took off for Gastone’s Hill with nothing but a smile on our face, skip in our step, and a purse full o’ rocks (or something else heavy). I did not really have much in mind, but did not sleep well the night before so I figured it would all be ok. We started up “The Hill” with rucks in our hands (no straps) and at each mailbox on the right did 5 chest presses. After reaching the top we commenced to doing flutters with rucks over our heads. I wanted to do this without a specific number in mind, so as to encourage some idle chatter. It was a bit quiet, kind of too quiet…..which is not always a bad thing, but kind of made me feel a little less than appreciated……so I told the crowd we would continue with said exercises until I felt some love. Thankfully OutHouse spoke up at some point and proclaimed his love for Whoopie (Goldberg in a quiet voice). It’s ok, I felt the desired effect from Shi…I mean, OutHouse. Rucks on and head down “The Hill” for more stuff. At every mailbox on the right, face downhill and gimme 3 Merkins. Not too bad, but still feel like the Merkins with the ruck are tough. We got to the bottom and did some squats until some more comments to make me (or Whoopie Goldberg) feel loved….again, thanks Shi……I mean, OutHouse.

Next, mosey from “The Hill” to the soon-to-be Planet Fitness for a new exercise called Bulldog Merkins. We lined up in a row and first guy did exercise while rest sat in People’s Chair and did chest presses with their rucks. We took turns doing 5 Bulldog Merkins-feet on the wall about 2 feet up and extend out into Merkin position and do 5 Merkins with feet on the wall. Pretty tough, but will do more reps and sets next time.  I was a good start. Next we moseyed thru part of the parking lot for some 4 corners. I asked Clavin to call the exercise and against my wishes, we did American Hammers in 10, 20, 30, then 40 reps at the 4 corners. BTW, I hate American Hammers……a lot…..and I hate them more now. I did not make that mistake again. For the 2nd round of 4 Corners I called the exercises and we did Clavins (AKA, calf raises) in 20, 40, 60, 80 reps at the 4 corners. Gave desired burn then we moved on. I think we went to the bank next. Somewhere along the way we prepared for the F3 International Convergence in Morocco next year at OutHouse’s request-a few Moroccan Night Clubs.

After finishing at the bank, we had a few minutes to kill so we did a new-ish exercise I sort of made up on the fly: Roadkill Froggers-at one side of the street drop into road kill position (ruck on, lay down on concrete like…you know, roadkill), get up then jump (frog hop) one time. Get back on ground in road kill position then get up and jump again. Repeat this until you either get hit by a car or get across the street. We all made it safely across then hit some more Moroccan Night Clubs for the last minute or so then called it a day.

COT:

announcements-9/11 Memorial Stairclimb will be 9/18/20-put that stuff on your calendar now britches-it was great this year and is gonna be HUGE next year. You don’t want to miss this thing.

Convergence in 2 weeks at The Yank-get there and support your brothers

Quick prayer then we were outta there.

Good work this am guys. Those purses don’t get any lighter, you just get a little bit stronger. Keep up the good work. Next week will be DryRub with the Q so get those arms loose. I suspect it’s gonna hurt.

Whoopee