YHC arrived at Martha’s House for the last beatdown of the year. As I remember, it was a little chilly and the 6 PAX who appeared were ready to get after it. This is what happened…

We moseyed the long way to the middle of the baseball fields and did a fellowship lunch walk around the concession hut. Once that was done we kept moseying down to the lowest part of the big parking lot for the Thang.

The 12 Days of Christmas!!! This routine was sung by YHC so that the PAX could get even more in the Christmas spirit.

On the 1st day of Christmas my true love gave to me, a lap around the 3rd light pole.

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true love gave to, 2 lunges each side plus all the rest in order.

On the 3rd day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 3 jingle balls plus all the rest in order.

On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me, 4 merkins plus all the rest in order.

On the 5th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 5 sumo squats plus all the rest in order.

On the 6th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 6 American Hammer plus all the rest in order.

It was about this time that YHC asked the PAX to sing the corresponding exercise so we could share in the Christmas cheer. It worked pretty well except for one Scrooge-like PAX who refused to sign his part due to what can only be explained as a heart that was several sizes too small that day. You hate to see it.

On the 7th day or Christmas, my true love gave to me, 7 alternating shoulder taps plus all the rest in order.

On the 8th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 8 monkey humpers plus all the rest in order.

On the 9th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 9 big boy sit ups plus all the rest in order.

On the 10th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me, 10 CDDs plus all the rest in order.

On the 11th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 11 Side Straddle Hops plus all the rest in order.

On the 12th day of Christmas, my true love gave to me 12 Burpees plus all the rest in order.

With a little time left, we moseyed back the way we came in and stopped at the shack for another round of lunge walks then got back to the start right on time.

Thanks for the opportunity to lead men!

Merry Christmas!!!

We had 6 ruckers and 3 runners at Members Only this morning with Montana joining us for Q Source.  Great to see how well he’s healing from surgery, keep up the good work brother.  Grateful for this group this morning and for the HIM who rolled his eyes yesterday saying he was going to have a late night and doubt he’d make today…….but I knew he would!

Here’s a short excerpt from Q Source that led to some good discussions.

F3 uses the acronym TEAM to encapsulate the Team Development process the Virtuous Leader employs:

T is for Trust: reliance between Team Members–the Virtuous Leader builds Trust.

E is for Equipping: matching the Team Members to its Mission–the Virtuous Leader ensures his Team has what it needs to be Effective.

A is for Accountability: setting and maintaining high Standards within the Team–the Virtuous Leader instills a culture of Accountability within the Team that fosters Teamwork and mutual respect.

M is for Missionality: prioritizing Team Mission accomplishment–the Virtuous Leader never lets the Team Members forget what they combined to accomplish.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Anchorman

This morning at PainLab, I had the honor of leading the F3 workout, and it turned out to be quite the memorable experience. The atmosphere was charged with holiday spirit as we embarked on a Christmas-themed fitness challenge. The twist was the incorporation of trivia questions, adding an element of fun and competition to our usual routine.

As I rallied the participants for an hour of festive fitness, I received a surprising message from Stagecoach, my first EH back in 2018. It turns out he hasn’t posted in a whopping 2044 days, but today he expressed the desire to join in the workout and compete against his brother Cheesesteak, who has been consistently showing up.

The workout itself was a concoction of exercises and trivia questions, with two teams going head-to-head. Each round featured a trivia question, and the winning team got the luxury of an easier exercise, while the losing team faced a more challenging one. It added a dynamic and engaging element to our usual routine.

However, the morning took an unexpected turn during question three, which revolved around the highest-grossing Christmas movie of all time. Stagecoach’s team confidently declared “The Grinch,” while my sources insisted on “Home Alone.” The discrepancy led to a bit of controversy, and I must admit no one gracefully handled the mistake, hence this text when I returned to my vehicle post-workout.

Cheers to another memorable F3 workout at PainLab. See Gashouse backblast for announcements.

Prayers to our brother Sledge

Disclaimer:
Pledge:
it’s cold……
SSH – 10 IC
Mosey to Martha’s
Our gift from Frank Shirley has arrived.  It is a one year subscription to the Jelly of the Month Club!  It’s the gift that keeps on giving the whole year long.

January:  LBC
February:  Big Boys
March:  CDD’s
April:  Dips (with an additional 50 since the lights did not work)
May:  Squats (with an additional 100 since there is a squirrel in the tree)
June:  Super Man Pull Ups (less 50 since the lights now work)
July:  Merkins (with an additional 150 since the crapper’s full)
August:  Monkey Humpers (less 50 since Clark’s bonus was restored)
time……..
September:  would have been Moroccan Night Clubs
October:  overhead claps
November:  lunge in place
December:  heels to heaven

We did not keep track of our months, and each was hidden a short block from each other.  Exercises were done with 1/2 group receiving the gift and the other 1/2 running.  Each month had to be re-found running to the gift cards.  All above mostly modified for time and count, just go with the fun as listed.

Announcements:
Beer Ruck
New Year’s Convergence

Prayers:
Simpson family
Turtleman
Huckleberry
Jackson Hall
Overheard, live every day to the fullest as tomorrow is unknown
Reach out to your F3 brothers.  JJ working as Development Q to promote this concept and not let guys slip.

Honored, Linus

Mt Hollywood Cardboard Christmas / 12 ish days of Christmas. YHC filled in for Hey  Y’all.  Mayor did not get the memo and was very disappointed that plan B (CPAP) was there to lead. Warm up consisted of the usual SSH, Imperial walkers, Abe bagodas. We ran over to the elementary school to do some additional warm up in 12’s.  Each PAX held plank while each did 12 Mericans. Run a lap. Then each PAX held a squat while each went 1 at a time and did 12 air squats. Run a lap. Then each PAX held balls to the wall while each did 12 LBC’s. Ran back to the Middle School for some 12 days of Christmas. We did not make it through all 12 days of Christmas but was each exercise was in multiples of 10. Once we finished each set, we ran a lap. Christmas music was played but had some sultry mix and did not make eye contact during those tunes. There was an alleged sighting of termite. Police showed up at the end of COT asking of any suspicious activity for some reason. Good work men, was a privilege to lead.

We rucked.

Merry Christmas!!!!

Roscoe’s brainchild.  Developed on the frosty streets of Gastonia, NC somewhere between Union Rd and Robinwood Rd the sand got deep one day and there was an impromptu airing of grievances that would’ve made the late Frank Costanza proud (or Whoopee’s Sandy V Channel).  The notes were few, but the good times many from that day, and so when Roscoe brought it up again this year, we knew we needed to try to capture the magic again.  The rain in the forecast was a perfect backdrop, though in all honesty, last week was way worse.  7 grumpy old PAX got out of the fartsack and hit the streets at 0601 as YHC was busy putting on his makeup and you can’t rush perfection.  No runners, just we with bones to pick and 80 minutes to pick em.

The play by play is gone, but grievances included

•  College Football Playoff
• Guests at a party who overstay their welcome
• Our old man bodies waking us up to post even when we fully intended on fartsacking
• Octogenarians in the Oval Office
• What shouldn’t be done on government property (and what should be done to those that do)
• Menu anxiety
• Smokers (people, not charcoal)
• People who say “I shouldn’t be doing this” while eating their 3rd cupcake
• The weather
• The fact that this was a 5 mile ruck and not a 3 miler
• Faulty sensors in turn lanes that don’t actually trip the traffic light
• This movie starring Ethan Hawke and Kevin Bacon where the world is ending but it’s cool because we can watch Friends reruns
• and many more that I know I’m missing

Light-hearted and good-natured.  We manufactured some superficial anger in the spirit of the holiday, but the grievances didn’t seem to be as deep-seated this year.

2 joined in dry as a bone for QSource and a talk about Compassion.  We talked Gary Sinise, but also that things are complicated.  It’s not as simple as to give a homeless guy $10 or not.  It’s almost like we have to take the time to listen to find out.  But can we be THE GUY for everyone with a problem?  But we should definitely be THE GUY for our Concentrica.  It was one of those QSources where the further we went into it, the more I realized I didn’t know, or at least, don’t do well.  F3, and specifically QSource, helps see those blind spots.  If you don’t have a group, in F3 or otherwise, that’ll hold you accountable for growing into the man the your family and your community need you to be, I challenge you to reach out to any PAX and they’ll help you get connected.

Happy Festivus

Yabba Dabba Doo