11 men Downtown

SA

Runners today.

1 Cor 13.  How many have heard this and just glossed over?  I have.  I have heard this at every wedding and funeral.  What was broken down for me is Love and Patience. It was good to be humbled by this breakdown.
If you love someone or have patience with someone you:
Don’t snap at people when they frustrate you.
Won’t make critical or rude remarks to others.
Won’t be easily angered.
Assume the best about others.
Don’t respond impatiently in stores or on the road.
Are a patient spouse or parent.
Don’t become frustrated by the passage of time in any given situation.
Don’t expect Christians to be perfect and have patience in their spiritual growth, just as God has with us.
Have patience at all times and in all things.

Announcements:  Convergence 12/2 at The Yank, Christmas Party 12/2 at Lewis Farm at 6:00pm > $10/person, Beer ruck with BOS on 12/9 at 11:30, Beer mile 12/30.

TAPs: Wichita’s father, Ratchet ‘s son Jackson, Turtle Man, Sgt. Porkchop has a sick child, Bedpans boss’s spouse, Doug Dellinger

Careful how you read the title. Schlogg means a slow run. We did not do this, instead we did this:

Warm Up:

Imperial walkers

Toy soldiers

High knees

Squats

Merkins

Flutter kicks

American Hammers

Around the world, 10 each way
5 halo each way
Squat curl press 10
Merkins 10
Knee to elbows – slow
KB Swing 15

REPEAT x 3

5 Burpies

Monkey humpers 10 IC
Zombie walk
Monkey humpers 10 IC
Zombie walk back

REPEAT x 3

5 Burpies

Dips

LBCs

American Hammers

Derkins

Curls

Calf Raises

5 Burpies

PLEDGE

15 HIM showed for a beautiful morning of rock pushing with Sargento. Disclaimer was given. Pledge of Allegiance was recited. Fun was had by all. This is what happened…

Warmup of Goofballs and Don Quixotes

We reviewed the mission of F3 – “To plant, grow and serve small group workouts for men, for the invigoration of male community leadership.”

Mosey down to the pit for a round of 11s. We did Derkins on the big road blocks and Big Boys at the other end. It only took about 5 minutes to get some complaining that there was wet grass where the blocks sat. Your tampons could be used to dry that up I guess.

Head toward the track behind the old middle school. It’s gameday, so of course we did the Wolfpack Grinder!

• 20 Prayer Squats, run 1/2 a lap
• 20 Merkins & 20 Prayer Squats, run 1/2 lap
• 20 20 Mountain Climbers & 20 Prayer Squats, run 1/2 lap
• 20  Merkins & 20 Prayer Squats, run 1/2 lap
• Intermission of reviewing the 5 Core Principles
• 20 Monkey Humpers, run 1/2 lap
• 40 LBCs & 20 Monkey Humpers, run 1/2 lap
• 20 Plank Jacks & 20 Monkey Humpers, run 1/2 lap
• 40 LBCs & 20 Monkey Humpers, run 1/2 lap

Mosey down to the covered picnic area for the already requested and Wienke verified Bring Sally Up. It was glorious!

Head back to the Pit for the last leg of the workout, mini Dora 123. Partner up and do 50 Shoulder Taps, 100 Donkey Kicks and 150 Dying Cockroaches. Lunge walk 1/2 way to the wall then run the rest of the way and back.

This took us to time, with a minute to do a headcount of how many years each of the PAX has been an F3 brother. BOS took the record with 12 years! Happy to have an FNG out today, he even works with a PAX from long ago, Anthrax. AYE!!!

Announcements – Convergence next Saturday at The Yank, Christmas Party at Lewis Farm, Beer Ruck Dec 9th @ 11:30, Beer Mile on Dec 30th

Prayer Requests – Jackson Hall, Turtleman, Montana’s recovery, Jackson Curti (bone marrow need), students to finish school well

Apparently, we rucked and I didn’t do a backblast , so here is a catchup.

We rucked with I think (4) guys. No one else claimed it, so….

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