Backblasts

Backblast: Black Diamond – An EMOM Greta
Date: Saturday, 5/9/23
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Shiplap@T-bone@Tortuga@DQ@Panhandle@Pool Boy
FNGs: 0
Q: @Shiplap
Total: 6WoR: 40 OH Press while citing the principles of F3, Neck Rotations, SSH x 15, Picking Daiseys,The Thang: EMOM workout combined with Greta. One minute you complete an exercise with a rep count, the next minute you run the hill – no partners10 Rounds – 10 Blockees, Hill, 10 blockee, hill…..rinse and repeat – Blockees took about 40 seconds, hill took about 4517 Rounds – 15 Thrusters, hill, 15 Thrusters, hill….rinse and repeat – Thrusters took 30-40 seconds, hill took about 5018 Rounds – 20 merkins, hill, 20 merkins, hill….rinse and repeat. – Merkins took about 30 seconds, hill took just over 50@Moleskin:
Moleskin: @Da Vinci

Date: 05/11/23
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Katniss @Banks @mac&cheese @Blackout @Jolly @Panhandle @Tortuga @Logs @Pool Boy @Judo @Stock boy @Big Mac @Cottontail (welcome!) @DQ
FNGs: 1
Q: @DQ
Total: 14

WoR

• SSH
• Goofballs
• Arm circles

The Thang
PAX hit the upper body today. No running, no lower body lifts. All the exercises we did were tabata style: 20s work / 10s rest.
PAX started off at cooties where we did the following circuit 5 times:

• Pull ups
• Curls
• V up roll ups
• Deep swimmers press
• Tricep extensions

We then moved to the shop where we did the following circuit 5 times:

• Table shrugs
• Incline plank, single arm row – left arm
• Incline plank, single arm row – right arm

After that we laid on the tables at the shop to do the following circuit 5 times:

• Pull overs
• Skull crushers
• BBSUs with shoulder press

And we had just enough time back at the flag for 50 flutter kicks

Moleskine
Two things had me thinking about loneliness this past week:

• An epic performance of The Sound of Silence by Disturbed. The song reflects on how it’s so easy to get consumed by the distractions and idols of society, to the point where you no longer have time or energy to take the initiative to engage in meaningful, authentic relationships where you can open up and be supported.
• A quote from Ted Lasso: “There is something worse out there than being sad, and that is being alone and being sad.”

F3 provides a defense against loneliness. Lean into the group. You don’t have to be sad and alone, dejected and alone, struggling and alone. This community of men carries each other.

CoT

• Praise that @Stock boy’s son has been medically cleared of any issues after going to the hospital this week
• Praise for @Tortuga’s daughter achieving a massive PR in her track and field event after a season of not seeing the progress she hoped for
• Prayers for safe and fruitful travels for @Sparrow as he leaves for Thailand tonight
• Prayers for @Crack and his family in the middle of a challenging season

Date: 5/11/2023
AO: #ao_dark_room
PAX: @Captain Crunch, @Noodles, @Tarzan, @Toto, @Flushy, @LeMond
FNGs: 0
Q: @LeMond
Total: 6

* Warmorama
o Motivators from 7
o Imperial walkers
o Side leg raises
o Arm circles
o Picking daisies
o Mosey around skate park
* Pre-thang at building
o 10 absolutions
o 10 Bulgarian split squats, each leg
o 10 one-legged dips, each leg
o 10 wall sit leg raises
o Balls to the walls: 1 min
* The Thang: Charles Bronson
o 50 SSHs, run around hill, bear crawl to top, jog back down
o 50 merkins
o 50 burpees
o 50 LBCs
* Extra Thang
o 4 rounds of one-armed burpees with Bernie Sanders up hill
o Failure to launch
* Mary at top of hill
o Box cutters
o Boat and Canoe
o Supermans
o Outlaws
* Moleskin
o Jordan Peterson
o An 18 year-old decides she wants to retire at 52.
o She works and works, forgetting it was a younger version of herself who made that decision.
o The faculty of rationality inclines dangerously to pride: all I know is all that needs to be known.

Backblast: May the Orbeez 4th.
Date: Thursday, May 4th, 2023
AO: #ao_mastodon
Pax: @Hancock @Stock boy @Pool Boy @Ankles @T-bone @Spokes @8-Track @Big Mac @Captain Crunch @Katniss @Tortuga @SAGA @Da Vinci @Panhandle @Sparrow @Hershey @Mater FNGs: 1
Q: @Sparrow
Total: 17

A battle to take and defend Hoffa Hill. Complete the group workout and run for the high ground. If you get hit by Orbeez or a Beefstick do 5 burpees (or 10 merkins or 10 starjumps or surrender your beefstick).

Recap: Claiming the high ground early created a strong and persistent advantage. Challengers from below believed they could take the hill if they worked together, but that remained strictly in the realm of theory. The beefstick’s didn’t factor into game play as much as I expected. Most pax held on to beefsticks instead of using them as extra lives. I think they also got forgotten during the thrill of flying water beads. @Big Mac staged a very effective beefstick attack on 5 of us at the beginning of game #2.

These were the exercises completed X 2 at the start of each game: 100 Burpees
100 Merkins
100 Star Jumps
100 Squats
100 Bonnie Blairs (1 is 1)
100 Big Boy Sit-ups
100 Mountain Climbers (2 is 1)
100 Side Straddle hops (2 is 1)
100 Flutter kicks (2 is 1)
100 Little Baby Crunches

Moleskin:
Make listening your new superpower. You will learn more, love more, and understand more. Dedicate an entire meeting to really understanding the other person’s perspective. Or as @Stock boy put it, “What was that you were saying?”
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. You don’t have to clean up your act to be loved by Jesus. He was willing to die for you just the way you are. Come as you are and let his love clean you up.

Date: 5.4.23

AO: #ao_dark_room
PAX: @Beaker @LeMond @Toto @Noodles
FNGs: 0
Q: @Noodles
Total: 4

WoR: Motivators x7, Tappy Taps x15, Batwings X15, Moroccan Night Clubs x15, R/L Calf Stretch

The Thang: Cinco de Cardio Circuit

PAX completed 2 Rounds of the following:

400 meters (2 laps around skating park lot)
10 Burpees
400 meters
20 Squat Jumps
400 meters
30 Box Jumps
400 meters
40 Mountain Climbers
400 meters
50 Rocky Balboas (2=1 count)

Moleskin: Don’t underestimate yourself. We are capable of doing more than we give ourselves credit for. Be gritty, welcome challenges and see them as an opportunity to continue shaping ourselves. Persevere. As some of us celebrate Cinco de Mayo, remember the history behind it. It’s become such a big part of American culture but we often just associate it with Margaritas and Tacos. The battle took place on 5/5/1862 in the city of Puebla between the Mexican Army and the French Army. The Mexican army was considered the inferior army yet defeated the much larger and experienced French army. The battle itself did not prevent French invasion but was the first battle in a war that Mexico would eventually win.

CoT: Prayers for @Toto’s M as she celebrates another year of life. We pray for many more years of celebration. Prayers for @LeMond’s father as he struggles with back issues. Bless the hands of the providers to be involved in his care. Prayers for patience, good communication and positive conflict resolution.

Date: 05/03/23
AO: #ao_tar_pit
PAX: @Big Mac @8-Track @The wet burrito @Tortuga @Panhandle @SAGA @Da Vinci @Jolly @Shiplap @Bloomer @Pool Boy @Blackout @DQ
FNGs: 0
Q: @DQ
Total: 13

WoR

• SSH
• Arm circles
• Picking daisies

The Thang
PAX partnered up and headed to the spa. At the spa, one partner performed reps of the given exercises while the other ran down and back up the hill. The partnership performed the reps until they combined accumulated the target number. Each round concluded with a different exercise for picking up the six. Below were the exercises and reps completed for each round:

• Round 1
  • Speed skaters – 100
  • Dive bombers – 50
  • Pick up the six: Pike Around the World
• Round 2
  • Grave diggers – 100
  • Leg lifts to knee tucks – 100
  • Pick up the six: wall squats
• Round 3
  • Side to side merkins – 100
  • Deep swimmers press – 50
  • Pick up the six: leg raises with coupon hold
• Round 4
  • Big boy shoulder presses – 25
  • Alternating staggered pushups on coupon – 25
  • Pick up the six: heel overs

Round 4 had to be cut short due to time.

Moleskine
Distance creates distortion. Proximity creates perspective. The closer you are to people, the more accurately you understand them. The further you are, the more likely you are to have a distorted understanding of who they are.

CoT

• Praise for @Tortuga’s daughter coming home and the work she’s done
• Prayers for healing for @Pool Boy’s daughter, and for resilience for his family
• Prayers for @Big Mac’s mom, her health, and wisdom/discernment for her doctors

Date: Tues, 05/02/23
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Shiplap @Panhandle @Jolly @Katniss @SAGA
FNGs: 0
Q: @SAGA
Total: 5

Conditions: a great day to sucker punch one’s self
Warm-Up: Goofballs, Mtn. Climbers, Merkins, Arm Circles, Sally (squats into merkins), EMOM for 5min: 35 side straddle hops + 8 burpees

The Thang: Redrum x3 // @ Cooties x3: 10 pullups, 20 merkins + 30 squats // lap back to Hoffa & rinse-repeat into x2…however SAGA decided that SAGA was doing too much and told him to toss some merlot and jolly about while various reps continued around him…one more lap & and a redrum to finish

COT: prayed for @Crack & family / @Gummi Bear and the addition of a 2.0 / @Tortuga’s 2.0 returning / @Aloha’s coming 2.0

Moleskin: You display what you obey; obedience is the showcase of what you trust.

Announcements: #2nd-f frivolity coming on Hale Street + Sat family beatdown to notice in #1st-f

Date: 4/27/2023

AO: #ao_dark_room

PAX: @Captain Crunch, @Banks, @Shiplap, @Noodles, @Manhole, @Tarzan, @Beaker

FNGs: 0

Q: @Beaker

Total: 7

WOR

Motivators, ic, x7

Mountain climbers, ic, x15

Sn soldiers, ic, x15

Batwings, ic, x15

Pretzel arms, ic, x27

The Thang

We completed round of the following exercises clockwise around the 0.5 mi loop, waited for the 6 holding something and then moseyed back to the rear to move onto the next round.

All rounds were completed by performing multiples of the reps listed below, starting at 1 and ending at 8. For example, 1 mountain climber (2 is 1) and 4 bear crawls, followed by 2 mountain climbers and 8 bear crawls, all the way to 8 mountain climbers and 32 bear crawls.

The rounds:

Mountain bears

– 1 mountain climber (2 is 1) and 4 bear crawls. Plank for the 6.

Dan Taylors

– 1 squat and 4 lunges (1 is 1). Al Gore for the 6.

Crab dip

– 1 dip and 4 crab walks. Plank for the 6 (EC for a reverse plank.)

Broadbees

– 1 burpee and 2 broad jumps. Al Gore for the 6 (Jolly for the 6 for Captain and Shippy)

Flat tires

– 1 partner derkin followed by 4 wheelbarrows. There was no 6.

Broadbees are hard. Crab dips cause complaining. We never got to duck humpers. With that, I am pleased.

45 seconds of plank at the flag, just to induce some grumbling. It worked.

Moleskin

To honor @Sparrow’s moleskin challenge:

An important concept that I think about is the importance of naming. When we receive a name, we are given and identity and a mission. Our identity is giving to us. It is not something we can earn, or even change. Our mission is something we are called to. We can live up to it, we can fail to live up to it, but it doesn’t change our identity.

One example of this in my life is fatherhood. On April 7, 2013, I was named "father", and I will be a father for the rest of my life. My mission is to lead my children as a father. Somedays I live into that mission, others I do not live into it nearly enough. However, regardless of my performance in my mission, I cannot change that I am a father. I can, at worst, be a terrible father, but not a non-father.

I received my most important name in my baptism, wherein I was named "son of God". All of us in this circle who are Christians are so named. Remember that this naming was God’s doing, and as such, He gave you an identity and a mission. This identity was given to you by God, not by yourself, and your performance in your mission, or lack thereof, does not strengthen nor weaken your identity as a son of God. Therefore, you are freed to live your mission as a son of God without restriction or fear.

When you live your mission fully, excellent! When you live it poorly, return to your name and remember that your identity is held in Christ, freeing you to live your mission again. Therefore, go forth today remembering your identity as father and as son of God and live into each of those callings in one way today more than you did yesterday, secure in your name(s).

COT

YHC forgot a bunch, so let me simply note that we are all lifting up @Crack and his family right now and leave it at that.

Date: 4/26/2023
AO: #ao_tar_pit
PAX: @Shiplap, @SAGA, @T-bone, @Da Vinci, @Tortuga, @Panhandle, @Pool Boy, @DQ, @LeMond
FNGs: 0
Q: @LeMond
Total: 9

* Warmorama
o SSHs
o Frankensteins: arm to opposite leg
o Windmills
o Arm circles, overhead claps
* Thang 1
o No surrender: 25 reps
o Prisoner Guardian Run around track: 1 round or have everyone go twice.
o Crowd Pleaser: pyramid to 5 in cell
* Thang 2
o Mike Tyson squat workout with card deck
o Deal out cards.
o 7s with PCMB (Prisoner Cell Merkin Burpees) and V-Ups.
o 20 high-knees, 20 mountain climbers in between
* Thang 3:
o Traveling SSHs
o Prisoner Get ups: 10 OYO
o Failure to launch
o Protractor
* Mary:
o Absolutions
o Protractor
o Freddie Mercury
* Notes:
o Q forgot how to do Absolutions, which are an 8-COUNT exercise:
o Combination of a Groiner, Mahktar N’ Diayes, and Chilly Jack, done on an 8-count cadence. An awesome core and upper body workout that is both the solution to flabby abs, and a reason to beg absolution for your sins. Start in plank position and perform a single Groiner (cadence “1” jump feet forward, “2” jump feet back), then Mahktar N’ Diayes to Chillcut position (cadence “3” & “4” with drop to each elbow), then Chilly Jack (cadence “5” feet out, “6” feet together), and finally Mahktar N’ Diayes to plank starting position (cadence “7” and “ONE, TWO, etc.”
* Moleskin:
o Who am I?
o I think of Saint Joseph.
o I’ve heard it said that when you have your principles in life worked out, decision making comes more naturally.

Date: 04/25/23
AO: #ao_mastodon
PAX: @Pool Boy @Big Mac @Blackout @Stock boy @LeMond @Da Vinci @DQ
FNGs: 0
Q: @DQ
Total: 7

WoR

• SSH
• Goofballs
• Picking daisies

The Thang
Started off with a brisk jog around the short loop of the path that starts and ends at the parking lot. The PAX then made their way around the loop with the follow lamp post based workout. At each lamp post, PAX completed:

• 5 thrusters
• 10 deadlifts
• 15 coupon swings
• leave coupons. lunge to the next lamp post, jog back to coupons
• sprint the distance of two lamp posts, jog back to coupons
• Rifle carry / farmer carry coupon to the next lamp post
• Repeat at the next lamp post

That ended up being way too much work to finish the loop on time… because YHC made the gaff of thinking 1 yard = 12 feet, leading to the belief that the lamp posts were only 11 yards apart after seeing on google maps they’re about 130 feet apart. The PAX quickly cut out lunging to a lamp post, and only sprinted the distance to the next lamp post, instead of two lamp posts. Suffice it to say… whoops.

Moleskine
Spend time with Jesus to nurture your relationship with him. I’ve felt distant from Jesus, despite focusing my time and energy on forming my life around him. Looking at these layers of my life:

• I can talk about my passion for F3
• I can talk about my passion for my young families group
• I can talk about my passion for my church
• I can even talk about my passion for scripture. It truly is sweet as honey to me.
• But at the root of all these things, I can’t off the cuff share my passion for and relationship with Jesus

So that was a red flag, and something I’m working on. As @SAGA shared with me, sometimes you just need to date God. Just like I need to date my wife so our relationship isn’t just a business partnership in life, I need to date God. Just sit and be with him.

CoT

• Prayers for @Crack’s sister and sister in law as they go through their struggles with health and with grief, and processing the anger and frustration that follows.
• Prayers for healing for @Pool Boy’s daughter Naomi, and for resilience for his family
• Prayers for @Big Mac’s mom and her recent heart concerns, that she remains in good health and this is nothing more than a short-lived scare