Backblasts

Eighteen PAX assembled at 5:30am, greeted by a setting April pink moon over AO Mastodon. Coupons were required and sleeveless tees were optional and donned by the brave.

NOR: T-bone (respect), Tortuga (respect), Panhandle, SAGA, Whittler, Hotbox, Gummi Bear, Banks, Babe, Crash (Hate), Crack, Sparrow, Big Mac, Cheese (respect), Beaker, Jolly, Cookies, Katniss (Q)

Warm-o-rama:

1. Merkins IC – 15
2. Squats IC – 15
3. Overhead claps – 15

Drill Instructors

• On your feet (stand)
• On your six (butt)
• On your face (high plank)
• Down / Up (merkin)

Thang 1: The Four Summits

All PAX moseyed over to Hoffa with coupons in tow. We partnered up, with one partner in each pair lugging their coupon to the top of Hoffa (each partnership shared one coupon at top of Hoffa, one at bottom) as Q announced directions for the Thang.

It was similar to a Dora setup with partners each performing exercises on opposite ends of a circuit, then trading positions.

Partner 1: Completes one of the below before tagging partner at bottom of hill to switch.

1. Merkin Summit – 50 block merkins + 30 “Ascending Testicles”
2. Quads Summit – 50 thrusters + 30 squats
3. Boulder shoulders Summit – 50 overhead press + 30 coupon lateral raises
4. Triceps Summit – 50 standing skull crushers + 30 coupon dips

Partner 2:

• He begins at bottom of hill by counting blockbee and big boy situp reps, AMRAP.
• He keeps track of the cumulative rep count for each of the two exercises separately (and tells his partner each time they trade spots; e.g., “90 blockbees, 125 situps”)
• He may switch between big boys and blockbees whenever he wants

The goal is for the partner duo to complete a total of 250 blockbees and 250 situps before time is called. If they don’t, they owe one Redrum (murder bunny up hill, 10 blockbees, rifle carry down) at end of the beatdown. (None of the duos completed this impossible feat, but one or two were within spitting distance once Q lowered the blockbee threshold to 200; alas, all did redrums)

COT:
Prayers for Bloomer’s son as he recovers from surgery and navigates rehabilitation
Prayers for T-bone’s family friend who recently passed, leaving behind 10 little ones.

12 brave PAX convened in the gloom. (Banks, Panhandle, Shiplap, Whittler, Tortuga, Da Vinci, TBTF, Milk Duds, Babe, T-bone, Katniss, Big Mac)

Warm-o-rama

· Motivators (x7)

· Toy Soldiers (x10)

· Lunges (10 each side)

· Merkins (In cadence, 15)

Game 1: Sandbag Race

As a team, move your sandbag to the end of the parking lot and back. It can only advance by being thrown. Each throw must be earned by completing any of the following. All exercises must be completed before repeating.

· 20 burpees

· 30 starjumps

· 40 merkins

· 50 BBSU

Teams 2 was victories, team 3 got 2nd and team 1 was eliminated and absorbed into teams 2 and 3.

Game 2: Kubb Competition

Set up 5 Kubb blocks for each team 15 yards apart with the King kubb in the middle. Earn throws of the tossing dowels by completing exercises, each bullet point is one throw. You may accumulate throws. Dowel must be thrown underhand end-over-end. The first team to knock over all of the opposing team’s blocks and the King kubb wins.

First 3 rounds:

· 50 curls

· 30 overhead presses

· 30 skull crushers

After that:

· 50 bent over rows

· 30 high pulls

· 50 presses

Both teams played valiantly displaying both dedication and a very evenly matched utter lack of coordination. Although at the end Team 3 edged out Team 2 by a single Kubb block. Neither team had been vanquished at the end of regulation play.

Moleskin – (Quote from CS Lewis in Mere Christianity) Now what you want to get clear is that Pride is essentially competitive—is competitive by its very nature—while the other vices are competitive only, so to speak, by accident. Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others.

Call: Focus on what you have to be thankful for, not on what others have that you lack.

Prayer: Bloomer’s 2.0’s operation on Friday. Praise for T-Bone’s job, Prayer for SAGA and his M.

QIC: Beaker

11 faithful PAX gathered in the gloom for a beatdown orchestrated by YHC.

Disclaimer: I am not a professional, I do not know your injuries. Modify as needed.

WAR: Goofballs (x15 ic), Abe Vigodas (x10 ic), Tappy taps (x10 ic), Arm circles (oyo), Arm across chest (oyo)

PAX were divided into two teams (team 1: Bloomer, Cheese, Jolly, Saga, Shiplap, Tortuga; team 2: Banks, Beaker, Hotbox, Panhandle, T-bone) and moseyed to the obelisk—after explaining to Shiplap what an obelisk is.

Thang 1: the two teams raced around the long loop to the far baseball diamond; each team traveled in an Indian/scout run. Team 1 traveled clockwise, team 2 traveled counter-clockwise. Team 2 won and was awarded 1 point.

Thang 2: Team 1 Bataan death crawled from the edge of the baseball diamond to the east end of Dan Taylor alley and then came back via Dan Taylor getups (Dan Taylors, but with no surrenders in place of squats). Meanwhile, Team 2 ran around the baseball diamond doing multiples of 7 reps at each base/plate.

Round 1: 1×7 diamond merkins

Round 2: 2×7 merkins

Round 3: 3×7 leg raises

Round 4: 4×7 lbcs

When one team finished their routine, both teams stopped, and then switched routines. The team that went around the baseball diamond won both times; 1 point was awarded to each team.

Thang 1, revisited: Both teams continued in an Indian/scout run, travelling in the same direction that they had originally travelled, completing the loop. Team 1 won and was awarded 1 point.

Thang 3: We moseyed back to the parking lot as a group. As a tie breaker, we did a doomsday clock in plank position, adding merkins by 2s and holding an Al Gore when you were out. At 6:15 both teams had 3 HIMs remaining in the clock and it was declared a tie. Both teams split the prize of an additional 100 burpees.

NOR: Banks, Beaker, Bloomer, Cheese, Hotbox, Panhandle, Jolly, Saga, Shiplap, T-bone, Tortuga

Moleskin: F3 taps into the reality that we are people who long to be named. When we are named, a new life is created; we become our new name. Upon being named, we are brought into the PAX. In the PAX we are given the gift of a community that reminds us of our names every time we show up, and thus continues to nourish and call forth that new creation. This follows the pattern first demonstrated to us when God names us as his sons, calls us forth as a new creation, and gives us the church to daily remind us of our new name, nourishing and calling forth our new selves. In this same way, the other most important relationships in our lives are ones in which we receive new names (husband, father), new realities, and new roles. We are also given a new community (our Ms and 2.0s) who call us forth to live into our new names. YHC encouraged the gathered HIMs to go forth into their day, remembering that they are new creations empowered to live into their names as son of God, husband, and father.

COT: Prayers for Bloomer’s 2.0 Cooper’s surgery on Friday, Jolly’s 2.0 Rancher as he returned home from college to finish the semester remotely, Tortuga’s M and tweaks to her medication, and for us to live out our lives as new creations.

After too much work travel over the previous 2 weeks, YHC was itching to get in a good beatdown. Naturally, the best way to do this (aside from attending a Shiplap Q) is to lead your own! It was a brisk 40 degrees at post time, so warm-up was important.

It had been a while since we reviewed the 5 tenets of F3, so we started the disclaimer with them:

F3 is free of charge
F3 is open to all men
F3 is held outdoors, rain or shine
F3 is led in a rotating fashion by the participants
F3 always ends with a Circle Of Trust

Warm-o-Rama:
Side-straddle Hops – 25 IC
Abe Vigodas – 10 IC
Tappy Taps – 10 IC
Merkins – 9 IC
Arm Circles IC – 10 each forward small, backward small, backward large, forward large
Michael Phelps OYO

Thang 1: Coupon 11’s
With coupons, the PAX mosey to first light pole, then perform 1 derkin and 10 blockbees
Mosey to next light pole, increase derkin count by 1, decrease blockbees by 1
Continue until count is 10 derkins, 1 blockbee
Mosey to the base of Hoffa, abs for the 6

Thang 2: All about the Benjamins
PAX line up on one side of the base, facing SHOP. Exercises were split between “Coupon” and “no Coupon.”
Curls for the Girls – 25
Walking lunges to the other side of field (approximately 40 for YHC)
25 squats
Walking lunges back to coupons
Overhead Presses – 25
Walking lunges to other side of field
Hand-release Merkins – 25
Walking lunges back to coupons
Abs for the 6

Thang 3: Circuit Breaker
As we moved so quickly through the previous exercises, YHC had to go off-script to finish the hour.
The PAX split into 3 groups with either 3 or 4 PAX in each group.
Group 1 headed to COOTIES, Group 2 headed to the swings, Group 3 stayed with the coupons
Each group had to complete the following before rotating to the next station:
Station 1: 10 pull-ups per PAX
Station 2: 20 Atomic Merkins per PAX
Station 3: 20 Thrusters per PAX

Each group was able to complete 2 full circuits before time was called.

Name-o-Rama:
Cap’n Crunch, Tortuga (respect), Bloomer, Double Beef’n’Cheddar (hate), Jailbreak, JazzHands, Too Big To Fail, SAGA, Babe, Crash (hate), Crack (Q)

After the normal COT, we spent some time lifting up Bloomer and his family as they prepare for his 2.0’s upcoming surgery.

Due to some Q shuffling, YHC was excited to have a full hour to deliver a beatdown to remember. I wanted to make something challenging and encourage each PAX to push a little harder. Although the Q wasn’t flawless (we could have made the teams a little more even) I feel it got the job done!

WOR: SSH IC x 50, Picking Daisey’s Middle/Right/Left, Arm Circle OYO forward and Back, Merkins x 15 with a down/up cadence to ensure full range of motion

The Thang: – Groups of 3: Groups need to complete the rep counts using an accumulated total
1 Mile – Timed – The times were quite impressive! Happy to get this on the books

1/4 Mile Timed – Take the fastest time in your group and divide by 2
Sandees – Using the number above
BBSU – 100
Curls – 200

1/4 Mile Timed – Take the middle time in your group
Blockees – using the number above
Crunchy Frogs – 100
Rows – 200

1/4 Mile Timed – Take the fastest time (for times sake)
Burpees – using the number above
Leg Lifts – 100
Sand Bag Press – 200

COT/NOR: Katniss, Archive, Sage, Jolly, Tortuga, Milk Dud, Noodles, Beaker, Da Vinci, Hotbox, Panhandle

The PAX emerged at AO Ground Zero for a ruck club, with a few who could not handle the intensity of rucking opting for a run. Present were @noodles, @shamu, @panhandle, @T-bone, @tortuga, @SAGA, @cookies, @banks, @shiplap, @drphil, @tortuga, @jolly, @davinci (q)

Warmorama: Tappy Taps in cadence (done correctly).

COT: Prayers for @noodles interviews and for @banks travel.

Moleskin: One of the F3 books is subtitled “the unshackling of the modern day warrior.”

This language terrifies some who think it will endorse patriarchy, the unjust rule of men over women. It certainly can. But a better word for that is actually puer-archy, the rule of boys, for real men seek the flourishing of women. The answer to the wrong kind of warrior (“toxic masculinity”) is not the SNAG (“soft New Age guy”) but the mature warrior. One book puts it this way:

“If we are accessing the Warrior appropriately, we will be energetic, decisive, courageous, enduring, persevering, and loyal to some greater god beyond our own personal gain…. If we are accessing the Warrior in the right way, we will, at the same time that we are ‘detached,’ be warm, compassionate, appreciative, and generative. We will care for ourselves and others. We will fight good fights in order to make the world a better and more fulfilling place for everyone and everything. Our war-making will be for the creation of the new, the just, and the free” (95).

One of the authors of that book’s life ended tragically, which remains an important warning. Rohr has a good Christian version of the same material that I really enjoyed, but I personally think Robert Johnson’s He (including the follow up volumes She and We) are the real classics of the genre. In any case, stay tuned for upcoming service opportunities for “the creation of the new, the just, and the free.”