Backblasts

5.9.19 – Burpees, Because

by F3Banks, posted in Uncategorized

It was a beautiful morning following a night of rain, it was still raining when we started the workout, but it was 60 degrees, so we didn’t care! We surveyed the AO for excess water and it didn’t look to bad, so we stayed the course with the original plan. It was a nice surprise to see daylight at 5:30am!

Warm-O-Rama:

7x Motivators

15x Tin Soldiers

15x Mountain Man Poopers

Thang 1: Bataan Death March

Our 3 PAX started off on a jog while one stayed behind to perform 5 Burpees and then sprint to catch up. Captain Crunch decided that the Q does not make the workouts hard enough on him, so he decided to wear a ruck for the whole thing!

We took the long mile, and right at the end we had a nice surprise running through knee deep water. It was pure luck no one was caught during this phase or we might have had some underwater Burpee Action!

Thang 2: Bearpees

We headed to the tennis courts and started Bearpees (1 Burpee, 4 Bearcrawl) until we crossed the full length of the courts. After this evolution, the Q graciously gave the PAX a 10-count to catch their breath and then had everyone go the full length back, but instead of 1 burpee each time, he upped the game to 2 burpees and 4 bearcrawls.

Thang 3: Burp Back Mountain

The PAX then moseyed to the hill and performed 100 Burpees Dora style. While one PAX performed the exercise, the others Bernie Sanders up the hill and ran back down.

Thang 4: The Finale

The PAX moseyed to the pull up bars and knocked out 15 pullups each

We ended the workout with Jack Webbs. 1 Merkin, 4 Overhead Claps, 2:8, 3:12… 10:40

COR/NOR/COT:

Prayers for focus at work and help to make the right decisions to keep our teams focused on the right things.

5.6.19 -Firefighter Appreciation Day

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

May GoRuck challenge: Honoring Service

Week 1: Firefighter Appreciation Workout

  • 150 STEP-UPS (75/LEG) ON A 12” BOX (WEAR RUCK)
  • 100M RUCK DRAG
  • 50 OVERHEAD RUCK PRESSES
  • 100M BEAR CRAWL (WEAR RUCK)
  • 150M SUITCASE CARRY (SWITCH HANDS HALF WAY)
  • RUCK 3 MILES AS FAST AS POSSIBLE (NO RUNNING)

Weight: 30lbs

Workout Time: 60 min

3 Mile ruck time: 42:50

Archive and Crunch posted in the confusingly sunny, dry, and warm (56 degrees) gloom at AO Mastodon and got down to business. After hitting the tennis courts for our 100m of PT, Archive had the good idea to mix it up and hit the streets instead of hamster-wheeling our 1mi loop around the park. Overall a good solid workout, but definitely feeling the longer ruck on the shoulders throughout the day. We’ll see what the other days have in store!

5.4.19 Embrace the Suck (part 2)

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

Men of Wheaton,

If you missed it (or the memory of the day’s events has been suppressed by your brain) here are some memory jogs for the crazy stuff that went down. Those Naperville Qs bring the heat!

IMG_2365.jpg

(all video/pics credit to Leuben, thanks!) This first pic about captures my memory of how this all went down. I’m over there in the back taking a breather between Dora merkins while Blart (QIC) is rocking out on squats. He and Archive blasted through the Burpee / Merk / Squat Dora and then completed a PAX carry around the hill before any of us were even thinking through how to saddle up.

So, naturally, Blart did what any animal in his position would do: Go around again! This time carrying a different PAX. YHC back there, getting a breather and a free ride on the Blart-beast (foreground: our bold three-legged team, Banks, Moonlight, and Skynet: if you weren’t there, you missed Banks shouldering both teammates for the first leg)

IMG_2367.jpg

So, I did get some leg work in, if JazzHands counts.IMG_2366.jpg

And here’s the view from the top. “It’s bigger than it looks” (@HeardAtF3)IMG_2364.jpg

It was a great beatdown and good to have the morale support of our Naperville brothers leading the charge. If they’re all like Blart, we’ve got our work cut out for us this month! We were one short of the Double Digit Midget this week with 9 PAX. We closed it out with a 6 strong coffeteria, and a good discussion about how much more there is to F3 than just fitness.

Looking forward to a great month of Saturdays, with Parks and Rec as QIC on 5/11. Don’t miss it!

 

 

5.4.19 Embrace the Suck

by Ridgeway Burns, posted in Uncategorized

THE SCENE: A beautiful, sunny day. Low 40’s with light breeze. Water on the ground from days of rain, to ensure we don’t stay too clean.

F3 WELCOME AND DISCLAIMER:

[Truncated] You accept all risks associated with this activity. Modify as necessary.

WARM-O-RAMA:

Side Straddle Hops x 30

Mountain Climbers x 20

Copperhead Squats x 20

Copperhead Merkins x 15

THANG ONE: Doozy of a Dora

Dora’s from base of hill, up and around summit, completing the following as pairs:

100 Burpees

200 Merkins

300 Squats

Complete one Partner Carry lap around base of hill

THANG TWO: Playround Around

Starting at one of three stations, complete the following, running between stations, decreasing reps until finished:

Pullups, starting at 10, decreasing by 1

Suspended Merkin Crunch, starting at 20, decreasing by 2

Dips, starting at 30, decreasing by 3

1 MoM:

Flutterkicks x 50

Side Plank Arm Swings x 10 each

COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA:

9 strong PAX total, including 4 from Naperville

CIRCLE OF TRUST:

Q’s Word of the Day

Today you heard me say, “embrace the suck,” during the workout. It’s a way to motivate us to push through the pain and keep going. By fully embracing the difficulty of the task at hand, we’re expressing our determination to not let the situation get the best of us.

On the surface, it sounds like that’s the extent of it. But there’s more.

Because we can all do more than we think we can. When it gets uncomfortable, when it starts to hurt, the physical pain can lead to an emotional crisis. And that’s the crisis we really need to avoid. While our bodies can still go further, we may lose the will to keep going, or we start to question our place in that situation, or we lose confidence in our abilities, and all the demons of our past failures, insecurities and uncertainties creep into our headspace.

That when we need to embrace the suck, in a positive way. To embrace a positive emotional connection to the physical pain, laughing at it, joking about it, not letting it get the best of us. Then, once we’ve put physical suffering back into its place, then that’s all we need to deal with. And when we’re in a positive emotional and mental state, we can go much further.

There’s also a spiritual element to this. For suffering is essential to the formation of character and beyond. As Paul says, “… we also rejoice in sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint…” (Romans 5:3-5)

So the next time we suffer, let’s remember to embrace the suck!

Prayers

For the growth of F3 Wheaton, so that it can be a powerful channel for physical, mental, and spiritual growth among the men of Wheaton who join. That they would be inspired for community leadership. That we may all be fortified for the work we are called to do.

For prayers spoken and unspoken. For blessings throughout this weekend.

-Blart

5.2.19 — Because It’s Leg Day

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

Thursday, May 2

5 PAX: Banks, Crunch, FNG-Abacus, Moonlight, Wet Wipe

With Archive holding down the home-front, it fell to YHC to take up the Q mantle and hit the park. Thanks to all the rain, the west side of the park was more flooded than I have ever seen it, so we modified our standard loop to the nearest passable trail. Moonlight and Wet Wipe helped Banks and I show the ropes to their FNG (Abacus). He held up well, or maybe we just weren’t hard enough on him. Time will tell…

Warm-o-Rama / The Standard:

  • Motivators IC x7
  • Tin Soldiers IC x20
  • Imperial Walkers IC x20

Thang #1: The Runs

  • run the Archive-mile, breaking at various points to do the following exercises:
    • Bolt 60s (like the 45, but more)
    • Dan Taylor (Squats/Lunges – 1:4, 2:8, 3:12, … , 8:32)
    • Colonel Trautmans x5 (three-legged partner exercise, AMRAP merkins / pull-ups x3 / people’s chair)

Thang #2: Fun with Coupons!

  • Mini-Spartan – (Coupon Hill Run + 10 Merkin at the top) x5
  • Insane Bolt 45s (with coupons!)

1MoM

  • LBC IC x30

COR/NOR/COT:

Prayers for the brothers — Lifting up homes / basements / yards; prayers for people to be high and dry through this week and next weeks’ monsoons. — Gratitude for new HIMs (and those Naperville guys) hitting our AO and the future that they can represent.

Might have a Rucking Problem…

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

Congrats to Archive and Crunch on completing the “Lucky Number 7” April 2019 #ruckingchallenge! Below is a wall of text illuminating some of the thought process that goes into someone become unstable enough to want to do this on the regular. If you’re like me, come find us for whatever May’s challenge is! Monday is RUCK DAY. #EmbraceTheSuck!

— Ruckaholics Anonymous Helpline — 

Hello, Yes. I’m calling because, well, I might have a problem … Yes, sorry, Captain Crunch. … Yes, that is my “real” name… No, it’s not on my birth certificate.

Well I started this #RuckingChallenge thing for the Month of April. I’d seen a couple go by and was sad I hadn’t jumped on it. And this one was only 7 days, so I figured I could do it even with April already being half over. With these guys I workout with on Thursdays and Saturdays I’m the “crazy guy who rucks on Mondays” so I gotta keep my cred up. It can’t all be Burpee Mile / Merkin Mile, rinse/repeat.

Day 1 + Day 2:

  • Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (10 Ruck Squats / 10 Ruck Push-ups / 10 Russian Twists)
  • 5 sets (10 Walking Ruck Lunges / 10 Plank Pull Throughs / 10 Overhead Press / 200m Ruck (AFAP))

So, I upped the weight from 25 to 30, despite having never done any of these other challenges, and I wanted to make up for the missing the first half of April… so I did both Day 1 and Day 2 together. … Yeah, that seemed like a normal enough thing to do. … Well see I normally ruck for 45 min and Day 1 was like a 25-30 min workout. I’d been planning on doing both days, I had gone to the track specifically because of Day 2’s 200m sprints, but I was pretty wiped. So I figured I’ve got some time, I’ll just try Day 2 to see how bad it feels. The first set went okay, so I tried another. Then it was close to quitting time, but I was already 2/5 of the way done. I didn’t really want to reset that and need to come back the next day. It was only three more. It was so easy to keep going knowing I was already almost half way in. So I ended up staying a bit longer than I meant to, but I could just get ready for work a bit quicker. I got both done! It went pretty well, I felt pretty prepared for it. Pretty wiped afterwards. … … Okay yeah, I guess it’d be smart to dial it back some and maybe just do a day at a time. … Sure, thanks. … Yeah, I’ll check in again after Day 3.

Day 3 + Day 4:

  • Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (50m Suitcase Carry / 10 Ruck High Pulls / 25m Bear Crawl)
  • Ruck 1 Mile (14 min pace) + 10 sets (10 Thrusters / 25m Bear Crawl / 10 Ruck Swings)

Hi, this is Captain Crunch checking in again… So… I went out for Day 3 + Day 4 with a buddy of mine. Better to have company on the road, right? … Huh? oh yeah… we did say just one day at time … Yeah, I think I can remember that next time. So we did Day 3 on some soggy tennis courts because that gave us the proper distance markers. Most of it wasn’t so bad. We do a lot of bear crawls in our normal workouts, so what’s adding another 30lbs resting on the back of your head, right? … No we don’t normally do 250m of them, I guess … So, I guess I should probably mention, too, that I noticed a blood blister on my right hand after Day 3’s bear crawls, but we were already right there and planning on doing both days, so… I went ahead and did Day 4’s bear crawls… Yeah another 250m. … Is that weird? … Uh huh … yeah, I guess so. I figured it would heal up okay, and it went away later that day, so no harm done? … Okay yeah … My buddy and I did agree to stick to one day at a time for the rest of it, though. We were both pretty gassed.

Day 5:

  • Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (10 Russian Twists / 10 Pushups / 10 Overhead Squats)

Hi, this is Crunch, checking in again after Day 5. This day felt a bit more moderate. I can see the point of just doing one day at a time. Still plenty of work. My buddy and I got through the whole set and figured we had time enough to hit Day 6 somewhere else in the week and wait until the next Monday to do Day 7. … That’s good progress right? “Just dial it back a bit”, right?

Day 6:

  • Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (100m suitcase carry / 10 Ruck Squats / 10 Ruck Swing)

Crunch again, checking in from Day 6. … Okay so this was a solo workout, and it felt a bit weird. So, I took the day off, mostly to get some things done around the house, but I had a spare window after lunch and just figured I should fill it productively, so I went out and rucked Day 6. I always workout in the morning while the sun is getting up, so it was really weird to be out in the full sunlight. I think I prefer the Gloom. It feels right. Anyway this one was probably my least favorite, but not the hardest, I don’t think. That 100m carry was long, even with jogging it. … well, yeah I didn’t want to take it too easy, so I jogged it. … it made sense at the time, but yeah I guess it would be easier if I slowed down. Easy isn’t really the point, though. … But yes, just one. I told my buddy I would wait for Monday for Day 7…

Day 7:

  • Ruck 1 Mile + 10 sets (10 Dead Lifts / 10 Walking Lunges / 10 Ruck Push-ups)

Hey! Crunch again. Challenge Complete! We wrapped up the last day in the pouring rain and I was just walking in the door as the thunder was close enough to shut us down anyway. It felt good to be out there in the rain. It wasn’t going to be comfy anyway, might as well bring it on, right? … Yeah, I’m glad I did it. … I think I might dial the weight down a bit for the next challenge, depends what it is. … Yeah. … Yeah, I was already planning on doing the next one, but they haven’t said what it is yet. … Yeah, I figured I’ve got a whole 48 hours off before May 1st… Sure, yeah, I can keep checking in, if you think that’d be necessary…

 

4.27.19 – Benchmark and then some?

by F3Banks, posted in Uncategorized

Saturday was a beautiful day at the AO. With the promise of rain turning into snow later in the day, we were lucky enough to finish the workout dry! After the previous nights F2 activity (Dry City) our Q was a little concerned about the PAX turning up in full force, but everyone made it! We started out with some warm-ups of the usual Motivators followed by Tin Soldiers while we were hoping Jazz Hands would show up, but with no sign of him, we headed off to begin the workout.

  • Motivators from 7x
  • Tin Soldiers IC 20x

Thang #1: The Benchmark Workout (Navy PT Test)

Test consists of 2 min AYG Merkin, 2 min AYG BBS, and timed 1.5 mi run

  • 2 min Merkin
  • 2 min Big Boy Situps

It was at this point off in the distance, we saw Jazz Hands running towards us, so we waited to start the run until he got there.

  • 1.5 mi timed run

Posting results for posterity and accountability:

Here is the link to score the below reps:

Banks – 56 Merkins (70), 51 BBS (60), 11:22 1.5 mi run (75) – Score: 205/300 – 68.3%

Captain Crunch – 75 Merkins (90), 55 BBS (60) , 10:00 1.5 mi run (90) – Score: 240/300 – 80%

Archive – 52 Merkins (65), 53 BBS (60), 10:52 1.5 mi run (80) – Score: 205/300 – 68.3%

After the test, the PAX walked to the bottom of the hill and Archive left for “work” it was time to have more fun and get into Thang #2

Thang #2: Modified Route 66

The modification was run to the top of the hill, perform 1 burpee at the top, and run down the hill. Rinse and repeat adding 1 burpee each time until you complete 11 burpees at the top for a total of 11 laps on the hill and 66 burpees.

Thang #3: Cooldown

  • The cooldown consisted of Jack Webbs
    • 1 Merkin & 4 Overhead Claps
    • Increase by 1 Merkin and 4 OHCs each round
    • Finish with 10 Merkins & 40 OHCs

COR/NOR/COT:

Prayers for health of our families and bodies, focus on upcoming Birthdays/Anniverseries. Thankful for a beautiful morning.

4.25.19 – Noodle Arms and the Millennial Murph

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

Thursday was a comfortable 45 degrees with no wind, and 4 PAX gathered for their week-day beatdown. It was good to see Chelms, AO Mastodon’s launch Q with his monthly drop-in on the neighborhood. This Q was planning to ditch warm-ups entirely but we stretched out and hit some Tin Soldiers while Archive drove up, before heading around the park. More cardio than normal definitely kept it a quieter day, mumblechatter was almost non-existent. Maybe our humble Q is the main guilty party there…

  • Tin Soldiers IC x20

Thang #1: The Millennial Murph

Standard Murph, but each exercise is Millennial-style, so first PAX done calls the switch to the next exercise.

  • 1 mile
  • 20 sets (5 pull-ups, 10 merkins, 15 squats) – blitzed through these in 11 min
  • 1 mile (scout run)

Thang #2: Burp Back Mountain:

  • Partner Exercise: 100 Burpees, take turns running the hill

6-10MoM:

  • Hurricane Hoedown
    • Seated Flutterkick x7
    • Reclined Flutterkick x7
    • Normal Flutterkick x7
    • LBC Flutterkick x7
  • Ol’ Ironsides
    • Boat / Canoe
    • American Hammer IC x10
    • Boat / Canoe
    • American Hammer IC x10

COR/NOR/COT:

Prayers for the brothers — Prayers for a finishing strong as we look to end the school year — prayer for Archive’s hiring process — traveling mercies and strength of purpose for Banks and Chelms — gratitude for a beautiful morning of building up and beating down.

4.20 Stand Up Guys

by Ridgeway Burns, posted in Uncategorized

4 PAX (Archive QIC, Banks, Captain Crunch, Moonlight) assembled a workout with not much gloom in sight.

WOR- 7x Motivators

21x Imperial Walkers

21x Ballerina Toe Squats – A challenge for strength and balance, looking at you Banks.

AMRAP Pullups

Boat/Canoe

 

Thang 1- 3x Aiken Legs

21x Dips

14x Derkins

7x Burpos

Guantanamo

 

Thang 2- No Name Yet: Run 5 lampposts, 1 Big Boy Situps and 4 American Hammers, Run another 5 lampposts 2 Big Boy Situps and 8 Hammers… all the way up to 8 and 32.

21x LBFCs

21x No Surrender

7x Burpees

Run Lap of Lake- sprint last bit: Got passed by Moonlight, old guy ran us down.

COR NOR- Prayers for Jazz Hands, Stretch for healing of injuries and for a good Holy Week.

4.18.19 – Hills to Die On

by f3captcrunch, posted in Uncategorized

^^ I mean just look at the crazy on that guys face…

Thursday saw a lovely rainy morning greeting AO Mastodon and the 6 PAX that gathered to start the day off right. Shoutouts to Moonlight and Brooks from F3 Naperville who shepherded their local FNG (Stretch) into the enthusiastic arms of F3 Wheaton’s crew. The Q was feeling a bit sporty this morning, I’ll leave it to the mumblechatter to say whether this was a bad case of Qdrenaline or just a good old-fashioned Beatdown. #RainOrShine

Warm-o-Rama / The Old Stand-by:

  • Motivators IC x7
  • Tin Soldiers IC x15

Thang #1: YURPEE Mile (who knew the Burpee Mile could get MORE fun? Yurpee = Burpee, but clap-merkins and two tuck-jumps on the standing part! Fun for the whole PAX) Sets of 6 on the quarter mile (total 24 Yurpees and 1 mi.)

Thang #2: The Nemesis/Partner Flap-Jack: For this exercise, PAX were led to the top of the Hill and told to pair off and share with their partner what was their “nemesis” exercise (that thing they would really rather not do). Then, PAX#1 got to do that exercise for for PAX#2, while PAX#2 bear crawled down the hill and Bernie Sanders’d back up. Flapjack, so that PAX#1 did bear-down/bern-up while PAX#2 did PAX#1’s nemesis exercise. And just to make sure no one felt like they got off too easy, we did another Flapjack, this time, giving each PAX a chance to face their own nemesis exercise for the length of their partner’s turn on the hill.

We did have just enough time to fit in a three rounds of a mini-spartan:

  • sprint up the hill, do merkin x10, regroup at the bottom of the hill (x3)

Some Minutes of Mary:

  • V-Ups x 26
  • Hurricane Hoedown
    • Seated Flutterkick IC x7
    • Reclined Flutterkick IC x7
    • Normal Flutterkick IC x7
    • LBC Flutterkick IC x7
  • Australian Snow Angels IC x21

COR/NOR/COT:

Prayers for the brothers — Lifting up the Naperville convergence on April 27th, prayers for Holy Week, that the Body in our individual places of worship would feel the closeness and connection to the Lord that sustains and strengthens our worship and mission. — Gratitude for bodies that can be worked and the opportunity to use them well. — Thanks for FNG–Stretch being added to the number. Respect Respect!