Family, Friends, and F3 Gastonia….Many of you know that my family lost a niece (Courtney Miller) unexpectedly on May 10, 2019. This continues to be a tough time in our lives. Since her passing, I have been thinking of ways to pay tribute to Courtney along with trying to help other people. On Saturday, August 17th, my family and I will be hosting a Remembrance 5k Run/Walk at Rankin Lake. This event will be held at 10:00am and is meant for all family members to attend. The purpose behind this event is to not only celebrate the life of my niece but discuss the direction we would like for this event to go in the future and hopefully give a helping hand to others in need. This will be a great opportunity to enjoy and cherish the moments we have with our friends and families. If you plan on attending please feel out the form below so we have an estimate of number of people that will be attending. If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me at (704)634-3039.
Page 641 of 917
A dozen PAX showed to celebrate one year of Mt Hollywood as an AO. Freon and Red Ribbon are regulars that are in the area, proof that if the seed is planted growth will happen. Here’s how it went:
Warmup: 12 SSH, 12 Imperial Walkers, 12 Burpees
Mosey to the wall in front of Ida Rankin. Experience shows as the low end of the wall had a big crowd fighting for space. 12 step ups, 12 dips IC, 12 suspension merkins (these are really difficult by the way). Three rounds. Mosey down the road a little further for the main event. Q calls for suicides. We had a starting point that served as home base. Each time to home base is 12 big boys. Run to the nearest utility pole for 12 merkins. Back to home base for big boys. Run to next pole for 12 merkins and back to home base. You get the trend. All the way to pole that’s beside the wall where we started. Not the one before that. Some PAX thought they were at the end . Nope, one more to go.
Mosey to parking lot at Ida Rankin for 11’s. tiger squats and Mike Tyson’s. Mumble chatter rolling pretty good by now. We got about half way finished, time getting scarce, so mosey back to flag for the pledge.
Moleskin: one year in time is a matter of perspective, in some ways can seem like a long time, in other ways it seems like very little. Regardless of perspective, it is enough time to effect change. Jesus’ ministry lasted roughly three years, three years that changed the world forever. One year is enough time to begin lasting life change. Stop doing something you shouldn’t be, or start doing something you wish you were. All it takes is making the decision and following through.
Announcements: Speed for need – Stop soldier suicide and Christmas Town, Ragnar coming up, JJ5k, Pizza Man holding event at Rankin Lake Aug 17 from 10-2. Sargento and some others doing half marathon in WV, and a half marathon in Belmont in December. Tuna 200 coming up.
Prayer requests: Remember Lynn Hamm and family, Red Ribbon on vacation next two weeks. Pax praying for this week: CPAP, Easy rider, Ash Pond, Cookies n Cream, Shooter, T Square, Step Down, Red Ribbon
Q took us out with prayer
Always an honor to lead
Tiger
11 men came out this morning and YHC was in charge of the Q and Q source.
Some walked Some ran.
We had a great discussion on vision, it was a pleasure to have the Nantan with us, his Socratic approach to the conversation was much appreciated.
Announcements:
Pizza man will have an event coming up to Honor his family member at Rankin Lake Aug. 17th
Stop Soldier Suicide coming up, and the JJ 5k.
Thank you to all who come out and post
7 Pax strong to begin the work week and as luck would of have it to celebrate Gastone’s birthday. In hindsight, we should of saluted with rounds of 50, however, it was early, YHC was tired and trying to determine how much to push. Probably more so for YHC as I’ve gotten very good this summer at fart sacking.
Started with the disclosure
As I compile the backblast, just realizing YHC missed the pledge. Q fail for sure. My apologies
Warm Up
SSH x 25 ic
MNC x 50 ic
LBC’s x 25 ic
Merkins x 10 ic
Mosey to the old HT parking lot
The Thang
20 big boy sit ups; followed by a plank; turned into Nolan Ryan’s each arm
Then run around the backside of the shopping center and back to the starting point
Rinse and repeat x3
Being that numbers were a bit lower, it was time for some group think. Great way to build collaboration, engage the full PAX and have a little fun. What we didn’t know, couldn’t hurt right?
Each #HIM named an exercise and we went in orders with Four Corners across the front parking lot
Corner 1 – 20 jump squats (courtesy of Dry Rub)
Lunge walk to next corner (courtesy of Capt Stubbing)
Corner 2 – 20 monkey humpers (courtesy of Pedals)
Mosey to corner 3
Corner 3 20 Michael Phelps (courtesy of Easy Rider)
Leisure beach stroll to next corner (Spiderman – must of had vacation on his mind, was a much needed breather)
Corner 4 20 merkins (courtesy of Island)
Mosey to corner 1; rinse and repeat x3
Line up below the atm machine on the yellow line – full length of parking lot suicides, lst light, 2nd light, 3rd light return
Meander back down the parking lot with arms above head with 20 air presses
At bottom of parking lot, pair up for bear crawl 1-2-3 to first section of parking lot and back; Partner A bear crawl while Partner B performs – AMRAP which consisted of SSH’s, Plank Jack’s and Seal Jacks
Meander up to Neil Hawkins Road, arms above head with 20 air presses
Mosey to wall
Some time left
Dips x 15, step ups each leg x10; rinse and repeat x3
Mosey to the start – TIME
Announcements – Aug 17th event in Dallas; see Pizza Man
Prayer Requests – Spiderman’s father in law; some surgery with complications
Thanks for the push men. Good work. It’s always an honor to Q. Q spots are open over the coming months at Neverland and Martha’s House. If you haven’t Q’d lately, time to get on the board.
Till next time
Turtleman
If you’ve never posted on a Saturday at Folsom, the best way to describe the experience is….entertaining. The mumble chatter is always plentiful, someone is typically being called out for their poor form or inability to properly count reps, the air is ripe with the pungent aroma of multiple PAX expelling the remnants of their last meal, and the workouts will leave you exhausted and ready for the fellowship to follow at the Country Kitchen. This day would prove to be no different as 21 PAX gathered in the newly paved (kinda sorta) parking lot to get the weekend started.
No FNG’s so the quick version of the disclaimer. Imperial Walkers x10IC, SSH’s x10IC and Moroccan Nightclubs while we waited on those coming in hot. Another Folsom fact, someone will always be coming in late (usually Sparky).
Whenever I have the Q, I try to leave the PAX with a thought, verse or other words that they will hopefully be able to take with them and use to become better. The focus of today was Accelerate and at various points during the workout I wanted to offer the PAX ideas of how to accelerate their personal growth.
Point #1 – To accelerate you have to believe in yourself, if you don’t you’re going to struggle. You must believe in where you are going before anyone else can.
Mosey out of the parking lot and head toward the main entrance. Make a stop at the fork in the road for 25 American Hammer’s, 25 Flutter Kick’s and 25 Mountain Climbers all IC. Rinse and repeat when we get to the flag. While we’re here let’s go ahead and get the pledge.
Point #2 – To accelerate ask friends to hold you accountable. These friends need to be part of your inner circle and not afraid to let you know when you’re under performing or changing for the worse. Listen to their feedback.
Let’s mosey across to the parking lot for….The Cooper. 10 Burpee’s, 10 Squats, 10 Merkins then a lap around the parking lot. Next round 9,9,9 and a lap all the way down to 1,1,1. This is a tough routine and Gump was out front making it look easy. SA and Seuss weren’t far behind and I believe most made it all the way through before YHC called time to move on to something else.
Point #3 – To accelerate find a mentor. This should be someone you have a genuine connection with and value spending time with. Both of you must be willing to discuss things that may seem difficult in order for it to work.
Mosey back to the fork in the road and this time, 25 LBC’s IC, 10 Big Boys OYO and 10 Oblique Crunches each side. Head down Sportsman Drive to where the trail splits off and repeat the above. This was about the point where Volt started to question YHC’s choice of locations for ab work. I think he’s fond of the new asphalt, but part of the allure of Folsom is the way you feel during the post workout shower when you realize you have road rash on some unfortunate parts of your body.
Point #4 – To accelerate you must feed your brain. Read books, listen to podcasts, study materials, etc. related to what you are trying to accomplish.
Let’s head to the amphitheatre. PAX choice of route, straight shot or take the long way around the pond and through the parking lot. Partner up and wheelbarrow to the sidewalk where both PAX perform the called exercise, then mosey back to the bottom. Swap places on the wheelbarrow and repeat. 25 SSH first round and 25 Seal Jacks for Round 2.
Point #5 – To accelerate you must learn to appreciate more. Appreciate your loved ones, friends, work, freedoms and all your blessings. Gain positive energy through appreciation.
3 rounds of 10 Dips, 10 Derkins and 20 Rocky Balboa’s then back to the start.
COT/BOM
Whetstone, Q Source, COT’s, etc. are all tools available through F3 to help you accelerate. When you’re accelerating you are changing patterns and habits and it’s going to take time. Give it a chance and push through the difficult times.
Announcements
8/3 – Tooltime party at Sargento’s (this was a great time and thanks to Sargento and his M for hosting!)
8/17 – Event at Rankin Lake 10am-2pm in remembrance of Pizza Man’s niece
9/14 – 911 stair climb in Charlotte
9/21 – Belmont Stop Soldier Suicide 5k/10k SFN event
9/28 – JJ 5k at Common Ground in Stanley
Prayer Request
Those battling addiction
School starting soon
Each other
Snowbird campers returning home
Def Leppard’s M having surgery
Def Leppard took us out.
Thanks to Montross for reaching out and offering me the chance to Q. Folsom is one of the many great AO’s in our region and the Country Kitchen never disappoints. It was great to see the legendary Huckleberry back out in the gloom this morning, we’ve missed you brother! Tclaps to all the PAX for pushing the rock and helping me to accelerate. The Cooper is probably my least favorite routine and there’s no way I would have called it if I didn’t have you guys continuing to push me to get better.
I’m Broke
Last Wednesday YHC was over at Caravan Coffee in Belmont when Dr. Seuss walked in for a cup of java and relayed to me that I had the Goat the next day. To which I replied i did remember that and asked what his disposition would be Saturday as I would be leading the Yank. he said he might be there but really like the EC run beforehand at Folsom. So YHC took that to mean we just weren’t tough enough at out here in belmont on Saturday. So we decided to turn it up a notch. Went like this:
COP:
Stretching
SSH X 20
IW X 20
4X Merkins X 10
Mtn. Climbers
Halfpipe set 1 – 2 repeats
Top of Heartbreak Hill: 5 jump squats
Bottom at Pad: 5 burpees
Top of stairs: 5 butt to the road monkey humpers
Back on the pad, partner up for DORA 1-2-3
Set 1 – Merkins X 100
Set 2 – Big Boys X 200
Set 3 – LBCs X 300
Run up the stairs to the street, down to the Yank, then back down to the pad. P1 runs first, P2 does the work and then flapjacks until team goal is met.
Halfpipe set 2 – 2 repeats (same as set 1)
Mosey over to the corner of Knowledge
10 X each:
Dips
Dirkins
Step ups
Burpee broad jump to the middle walkway. Broad jump to the end.
Mosey back and down to the Field of Dreams:
Bear Crawl and agility run slalom. Everybody get two turns. Perfect!
SSH X 10
3X squats X 10
Mosey back down the field.
Halfway : 5 HR merkins
End: 5 Hr merkins
Halfpipe Set 3 – 1 roll. Same as above.
Over to the fountain for final warm down and stretching.
NMM:
Pretty upbeat workout today. Didn’t see the need for EC myself. So we blamed it all on Seuss. Why not? he’s wan’t there to defend himself! Ha ha ha! Gotta love a good scapegoat.
Prayers out to Lyn Hamm and her whole family. They are really going through it now .
Quality leadership coming up. Looks like we have Tiger and Top Hat stepping up next couple of weeks. That should be fun.
Great pleasure and honor to lead this group.
Tesla
Five runners showed in the Gloom at the coconut just before sunrise. Quiche was there as he and Gold digger got a run in before the official workout. For Gold Digger it was EC but since Quiche didn’t stay for the official workout he gets no credit at all. Well, maybe a little!
Diva and Gold digger were out front while Clavin, Whoopee and I were the six. At some point I noticed mud on the greenway and it reminded me of Monk and his several “near misses” where he almost busted during previous runs. Therefore I dialed him up via FaceTime and he accompanied us for about a mile along the run. The great news from the DC region is that Monk started a Q Source already, has friended the Nantan of his region and is helping the acceleration of his new region. He is also starting a running AO. (Remember the Pub?
I will confess that Linus did return from some sort of a run after the COT which counts as a post at the Coconut so I apologize for not giving credit originally I thought he had poured water on his shirt or purchased a shirt with pre-sweat stains thanks goes to Whoopee for calling me out and having Linus’ back
Several PAX had to leave before the Q Source but several more showed up Linus, SledgeOmatic, Whoopee, and T-Square were at the Q Source where we discussed dancing idiots, vision, acceleration, cats, F3, humility, guard rails, and fast runners
A great start to the day! Aye!
Lets just say I’m sorry (not sorry) for the arm and chest beat down that occured at Marthas on Wednesday. 8 Pax who were formally my friends decided to show. Everyone knows that I love to run so I deciced to take it easy on the non-runners in the group and mix things up. Without furher ado we started with standard disclaimer and pledge. Warm up included SSH, Merkins(sorry), Imerial Walkers and LBCs.
The thang:
Run to KFC to pick up a rock (preferable one that you felt some kindred spirit towards). YHC explained that I’m feeling somewhat nostalgic as my oldeest is about to fly the coup for college in two weeks. I have been reminiscing about all those times when she was a baby (thus the inspiration for the rock). This would be your baby (it was to go where you go and you would be responsible for it). Insert evil emoji. Called exercise was a complex form of 11’s with a partner. Probably too complex to express in writing (and certainly too complex to be followed by 8 tired pax at 5:30) but the idea was to do 11’s with a stopping point in mid run . Beginning in the center of the parking lot, partner up – one partner ran one way partner two in the opposite direction (carrying rock of course). Here is where there may have been a slight Q fail. Exercises called were turkish getups on one side and merkins on the other. When you cross your partner in middle do 10 booyah merkins. – perhaps a little heavy on the merkins. Original plan was to do multiple rounds of different 11’s but time was an issue and we only completeled one round. We finished with a trip to the ATM (because babies are expensive) for ATMs (Alternating shoulder taps, Tempo merkins and regular Merkins). Finally mosey back to start for a round of Lazy Dora (my daughter’s favorite cartoon- I told you I was nostalgic) which included one partner doing an exercise and the other planking – Exercises included sets of 10 merkins, lbcs and squats until time called. All in all I counted 295 Merkins- again Sorry /not sorry.
Moleskin:
Just want to emphasize to all the dads out there that for those of you who have not experienced sending a kid off <TIME IS SHORT> Treasure each moment and make the best of each opportunity you have to shape, mold, influence and encourage your child to be the best version of him/herself. You get one chance at today – not everyday will be your best work, learn from your mistakes, do better tomorrow but whatever happens – make the best of it!
August 3 has been a significant date my entire life. My Father was born on this date in 1943. Today is his 76th birthday. Being the first August 3rd without him, I requested the Q at Gashouse not really knowing how it would go. Late yesterday, I attempted to put together a weinke for the workout but was unsuccessful. I decided to see how it would go.
No FNG’s. Short disclaimer. Let’s do a quick warm up.
38 IC Side-Straddle Hops (A multiple of 76)
Dry Rub takes the Painlab group and the bootcamp group heads off with YHC.
Quick Stop at the flag out front for the pledge.
The Thang
Before this moment, I really wasn’t sure what we were going to do. I stood there briefly and realized I had to head back toward Lineberger Park for a workout I have not done in a long time…the Forrest Gump.
Off we went to run to East Garrison Baptist Church parking lot for some exercises as follows in multiples of 76:
38 Merkins OYO
19 Squats IC
38 LBC’s OYO
Mosey to Hillbilly’s Parking lot:
38 Merkins OYO
19 Squats IC
38 LBC’s IC
Mosey to the upper side of Lineberger Park past the railroad track to Avon St (I’ll explain why later) and over to the step area where fans/parents used to sit and watch baseball on the old field (where I played machine pitch and little league baseball). Exercises as follows:
Dips IC X 38
Step ups IC X 38
Flutter Kicks IC X 38
Rinse & Repeat one more set of each
Mosey down through the park to the Flag Circle area from some quick partner work:
Partner 1 does exercise while Partner 2 runs up the path to the top of the steps at the Pool and back. This is repeated until each person had performed 304 Freddy Mercury’s. (Harder than expected for YHC)
Time to start the mosey back to the Schiele. Next stop back at Hillbilly’s for another round of exercises:
Derkin’s IC X 19
Dying Cockroaches IC X 19
Monkey Humpers IC X 19 (Rear to the road)
Mosey to East Garrison Baptist Church for the final round of exercises:
Merkins IC X 19 (No elevated spots for Derkins)
Dying Cockroaches IC X 19
Monkey Humpers IC X 19 (Rear to the road)
Box Cutters IC X 19
LBC’s IC X 38
Final Mosey back to the Schiele.
Final wall sits including some air presses IC X 38.
End of work. Met back up with the Painlab group.
Several announcements:
BRR Rucking Group; Q Source on Sunday’s at 0730 @ Coconut Horse & Crossroads; 9/11 Memorial Climb on 9/14; One year anniversary at Mt. Hollywood on Monday.
Several Prayer Requests
The Moleskin (A very impactful day for me)
Whoopee posted he would be rucking at 0600 for some EC so I decided to join him. I rolled in at about 0555 to find Whoopee, Roscoe, Watts Up, Voodoo & Boudin ready to ruck. Off we went. I have ran and rucked many miles of EC from the Schiele over the last 4 years over many different routes. I was not leading the route today but as we turned back toward the Schiele from Bojangles, the lead guys decided to turn left on Avon St (just above Lineberger Park). During the last 4 years, we have never turned on Avon St. My Dad grew up on Avon St directly across from Lineberger Park and grew up walking across to the baseball field and played throughout his youth. I told Boudin that my Dad grew up there but really didn’t realize what had just happened. Why today? As I brought the group out to Garrison Blvd for the bootcamp, something tugged at me to go back to Avon St, again, something I had never done during a workout at the Schiele. Frankly, I got chills after the workout when I had time to reflect on what just happened. Maybe my Dad was looking down at us, hopefully smiling as we went through exercises in multiples of 76. If he was, I’m sure he laughed at our rear facing the road monkey humpers.
I’ve had a lot of great and very impactful days and workouts with F3 but today was near the top of the list. I felt a lot of support and inspiration , especially just after the workout as I exchanged words and hugs from several of the PAX. Thank you. It’s been 11 months since my Dad’s passing and it is still something I think of daily. You men have helped me every single week for the past 11 months.
Thanks for the opportunity to serve.
Until the next one. Aye!
Stroganoff
That click bait title got your attention didn’t it. Don’t normally read The Pub backblasts because they’re boring, right? All those guys do is run, right? Where’s the fun in that. Well you’re here now so you might as well keep reading to find out from where the title came. Here’s how we got there…
YHC showed up much earlier than usual on this mild Thursday morning. This was even noticed by Roscoe who greeted me with a “You’re here early.”
With about a minute to go before 0530, YHC barked out the route sounding like Mama Fratelli from the Goonies. At that point, allergies were getting the best of me, and YHC felt and sounded awful.
The route… Armstrong Park to New Hope via Perry St/Lee St. Right on Armstrong Park Dr. Right on Armstrong Park Rd and back to The Pub.
YHC and Breaker Breaker took a detour to shorten the route and arrived before a few of the other PAX. (Here’s where the title comes in) Upon return, there was talk of inappropriate touching along the way. As Q, I cannot confirm there were any inappropriate actions. Even so, I’m sure the disclaimer (which I skipped) covered that. However, the supposed offended PAX did show up with his shirt off. And the accused offender did leave prior to the COT. Take what you will from those details.
Order was restored in time for the COT.
Announcements
911 Stair Climb on 9/14
Tool Time Party at Sargento’s on 8/3
Event for Pizza Man’s niece at Rankin Lake on 8/17 (10am-2pm)
9/5 Ragnar Event
9/21 Belmont Stop Soldier Suicide 5k
Udders from F3 G’boro looking for BRR runners
Prayer Requests
Lynn Helms and family
Def Leppard back injury
Families traveling
Officer Wooten
Diva
Whetstone and QSource
Prayer to take us out
Until next time…