It is my opinion that the majority of male friendships develop gradually. Rarely do you say “You and I are going to be friends, so go ahead and tell me your life story now, so that I’ll know the details moving forward.” Sometimes years go by before you find out your friend knows how to fly an airplane, speak Spanish, or catch catfish with his bare hands. Those are important details.
Today, we hit friendship head on, sharing relevant personal details voluntarily, instead of waiting for a back alley run in with a polish street gang to teach you which of your friends is a closet bilingual. Relationships were built.
Begin workout: Warm ups, with special attention to calf stretching.
Thing:
22’S
20 calf raises + two squat thrusters 18 calf raises + four squat thrusters. Etc.
Ruck to Dan Taylor Alley, DTs up to five. Ruck back. 10 merkins
Along we the way we shared important details for future friendship.
17 PAX made it out for a standard 7:00 start at MASTODON (Fruit Loops, Sparrow, DaVinci, Archive, Noodles, Wet Burrito, CATS (the Musical), Jazz Hands, Cookies, Panhandle, Bloomer, Tortuga, Smokey, Double Beef n’ Cheddar, Loafers, Big Mac, Captain Crunch). The goal was to have a good memorable time and work out like animals.
Warm O Rama:
Motivators IC x 7
Goofballs x 15
Goofballs #2 IC x 15
Bat Wings (IC x 20 on each of the following: Forward Arm Circles, Backwards Arm Circles, Seal Claps, Overhand Claps)
Duck walk to the Tennis Courts
Thang #1: Animal Travel
Bird Dog IC x 20
Bear Crawl one tennis court
Orangutan one tennis court
Inchworm one tennis court
Lizard crawl one tennis court
Crunchy Frogs x 20
Crab walk one tennis court
Orangutan one tennis court
Alligator Merkin one tennis court
Lizard Crawl one tennis court
Duck walk to the other tennis courts
Thang #2: the primate house
Howling Monkeys, circles of 8-9 PAX each.
Captain Crunch demonstrates the Bird Dog, photo by Fruit Loops
Repeat Thang #1 and Thang #2(but three times around the Monkey circle with one round of Gorilla Humpers)
10 Minutes of Mary:
J-Lo #1 IC x 15 each leg
J-Lo #2 IC x 20
Flutters IC x 50
Flutters IC x 50
Lest one think there was no method to the madness, these exercises were all core and back focused, giving a good work out to the stabilizers that we depend on to not hurt ourselves. With any luck we all escaped injury this time around and helped work those muscles that will keep us from injury in the future.
COR / NOR / COT: Prayers for strength, courage, and endurance, for the week ahead — for unity for our nation and our people and healing for our president — that we may be examples of brotherly love and faithful witness amidst trying times — for TAR PIT, it’s growth, and our finding of the people who most need this in their lives.
It was YHC’s first Q at our newest AO, so I figured a little exploration was in order. It was a chilly morning, but without any wind it was quite nice out. 3 PAX (Katniss, Shiplap, Banks) braved the early morning gloom on a Saturday to come out and see what Tarpit has to offer.
Warm-O-Rama:
7x Motivators
15x Windmills
Thang 1: Exploration
We started off with a Bataan Death March mosey to explore the Tarpit grounds. We went up the hill and across the street ending up at the tennis courts. *It should be noted that at this point, YHC injured himself and could not really run any more so the workout was heavily modified from this point forward…
Bearpees – We went across the courts 1 way completing standard Bearpees, then went the other way with double burpee bearpees. *It should be noted that at this point, we noticed the Fox that call Tarpit it’s home closely monitoring our every movement… Shiplap and Katniss scared it away for the time being
20x dips at 2 different stops along the way
We then moseyed to near the track and completed some lunges along the way
We stopped and completed 15x Merkins IC
We then moseyed to the playground equipment and completed 1 round of the below circuit with the pullups as the pace setter:
10x Pullups
Derkins
BBS
At this point, we moseyed back to the cars to acquire some heavy things to lift.
Thang 2: Heavy Lifting
We set up 3 stations and completed the following with the person on the sandbag being the pace setter. There were 2 main sets we completed and then repeated with decreasing reps:
25x Sandbag Bent Over Rows, other stations were Blockees and Hodors
10x Sandbag Burpees or “Sandees”, other stations were coupon squats and curls
20x Sandbag Bent Over Rows
8x Sandees
15x Sandbag Bent Over Rows *At this point, we noticed our friend the Fox joined us and was creepily watching us from the edge of the track… Katniss ran at him to scare him, but at this point he didn’t move, which in turn scared us… We decided to perform our remaining exercises facing the Fox…
6x Sandees
10x Sandbag Bent Over Rows
4x Sandees
5x Sandbag Bent Over Rows *At this point, the Fox had had enough and ran off… It looks like we have an official mascot for the AO!
2x Sandees
Each PAX completed 75x Sandbag Bent over rows, 30x Sandees, and lots of Blockees, Hodors, Coupon Squats and Curls.
After being sufficiently gassed, we headed back to the start to circle up for some Mary.
3 MOM:
30x Flutter Kicks IC
25x Each Side Oblique Crunches Each Side IC
COR/NOR/COT:
Prayers for these men who came out and joined YHC in the early gloom. Thankfulness for the beautiful day and strength to stay focused on our families this weekend.
Run thang: Mosey around Lake Ellyn on the short path, stop for 50 burpees at the boat house. Continue for another mosey around the neighborhood until the traffic and bikes threatened safety in the gloom. Headed back to the high school where we proceeded to the stairs.
Stairs: Run up all stairs, 10 merkins, run down hill, 10 squats. Repeat 5X.
Hit another ~.75 mile run around the lake and took the long way back to the parking lot where we knocked out another 50 burpees.
~3 miles and 100 burpees + some stairs. A successful EC!
COT: Prayers for tough work weeks ahead for Crack, his M and kids. And Thanks for Gummi Bear’s successful test to snag his Michigan real estate brokers license.
It was the worst of times and it was the best of times. It was the worst of times because shredtember was over. And it was the best of times because shredtember was over. It has been nice to sleep in without threat of a point docked against you in a punitive manner. This week we perhaps are all a bit more productive at work, as we need not look at our phone every few minutes fearing that we may miss an EC session. However, this week our numbers are down as many of us miss such workout sessions on account of our new freedom. While others of us such as bigmac and wetburrito continue to call ECs, albeit wet burrito also partakes in sleep during such sessions.
As I said before, our numbers have been down comparatively, but not on this day. A large crowd gathered this day in the anticipation of who would be announced as Mr. Shredtember. Large crowds at times lead to mobs which at times leads to looting, and today was no exception.
To warmup we jogged in pairs through through the west end of the AO, sharing something that we have been working hard on as of late with our running mate. As we crossed the last bridge and approached our coupons, coupons that were planned to be the foundation of today’s q session, we were shocked, stopped in our tracks, and flabbergasted to realize that not one coupon was there. They had been pillaged. Somewhere, some 15 or so guys are working out with our coupons and laughing because they didn’t have to pay the $1.50 per block like we fools did. We contemplated calling the police, but didn’t want anyone to go to jail on our account.
We quickly collected ourselves and found our bearings.
Warm Up Part 2: we performed 7 motivators and 10 burpees.
The thang:
Split up into three teams.
Teams moved from six different stations beginning from the westernmost bridge and ending at the southern most bridge. Teams had to move utilizing the bear crawl, lunge, and crabwalk in between stations. The following were completed at the respective stations:
station 1: 30 burpees
station 2: 40 spiderman pushups
station 3: 50 jungle bois
station 4: 60 bouncing betties- jumping lunges
station 5: 70 imaginary block leg overs
station 6: 80 squats
Team one finished first and was able to knock out 18 pullups while waiting for the other teams.
NOR/COT: Many paxs were here today as the video will show, including an FNG, who is new no longer; Quarter. Great to have everyone here.
Shiplap and Archive announced the winner of shredtember. It was and it is Davinci. The block he was presented with is beautiful and glorious and a true work of art. We were all very much moved. We wanted to hug but did not, due to social distancing. Songs were sung, photos were taken, tapestry’s were painted. poems were penned, and a legend was born today. We also thanked the founder of the feast; shiplap, for making shredtember possible.
NOR/COT: When I asked for prayer requests, captain crunch scolded all of us for sleeping in so much during the past three days. No rest for the weary. Amen.
PS: Crunch in all sincerity thanks for holding the line. Wetburrito you were an animal at shredtember last month and if anyone deserves a fartsack it is you. Davinci I am very happy you won shredtember. Nice job to Tortuga as well coming in a close second.
Beautiful morning (night?) 50+ degrees at arrival, but we were sadly one burrito short of a full feast. Post shred-tember crazy showing was a bit on the light side 3 HIMs in attendance (Noodles, T-Bone and BigMac).
Disclaimer: I’m still not a professional. If I were then your bad decisions would apparently become my fault, but since I’m not, you’re responsible for them.
Thang: 3 minutes focusing on one area of body-weight strength training, max reps each minute, switch exercise on the minute. (Largely ripped from Athlean-x workout)
2 Rounds of: Focus 1: Lower Body Anterior Chain Exercise 1: Alternating Single Leg Box Squats Exercise 2: 1.5 bottom-out squats Exercise 3: Jump Squats
Focus 4: Upper Body Pull Exercise 1: Supported pull-ups on fence Exercise 2: Lateral pull-ups Exercise 3: Player’s choice
Focus 5: Core Exercise 1: Supported pull-ups on fence Exercise 2: Black-widow knee raises Exercise 3: Levitation ab raises
Corrective: Superman with flaps (1 minute)
Prayer for: Friend’s chemo starts Monday, T-bone family friend in surgery today, father of 10, prayer for safe transitions back to in-person church, and prayer for healing in country.
Reflection: I like big groups and I like small groups, thankful for others to workout with.
It was a cool fall morning, and the first one we started off in the 40’s! The weather was perfect for what YHC had in store for the day. Since it was the day I turn another year older, I thought what better way to celebrate than to take a test and be measured in our physical abilities. 18 faithful PAX showed up to be tested, and all pushed their hardest.
Warm-O-Rama:
7x Motivators
15x Windmills IC
15x Mountain Man Poopers IC
7x Merkins IC
Run Around Hoffa and converge at the Coupon Stack
The Thang: PT Test
The PAX partnered up and helped each other by monitoring form and counting for the test. We alternated between partners and each PAX completed AMRAP in 2 mins of Merkins and BBSU. From there we went on an individually timed 2 mile run… Let me tell you, this group of PAX is fast!!
Prayers for Cookies as he searches for a new job, and blessing upon all of us and the country as we go through this divisive time during elections.
Moleskin:
It was great to see all these PAX turn out and push their hardest to see where they stand. We pushed hard during Shredtember, and it is good to pause and reflect upon how far we have come. Most PAX did more than they thought they could and pushed me to do better than I thought possible. It is great to spend another year on this Earth with this group of HIMs and I appreciate all of you as we continue to push each other to be better!
7 PAX (Archive QIC, Banks, Big Mac, Captain Crunch, Da Vinci, Sparrow, TBTF) enjoyed a nice moist morning with some of their favorite pals.
WOR: 2 Minute Plank. Banks was not pleased.
Thangs: Ruck between each spot.
Route 66- Shoulder to Shoulder Thrusters
Dan Taylor
Welsh Dragons at the Lair
Finished up with a 2 Minute Plank and 3 Burpees
COR NOR
COT- Prayers for a good start to the week, for Archive’s review (belated), and thanks for F3.
Moleskine- It was so good to get back to work with the PAX. The mumblechatter was really good and Da Vinci/Sparrow/Big Mac in particular raising the IQ of the group. Banks and I not so much.
Every ENDEX is a new STARTEX. 14 Ruckers (Triple XXX (Family Restaurant), Wet Burrito, Cookies, SAGA, Smokey, Noodles, TBTF, Gummi Bear, Tortuga, DaVinci, Shiplap, Banks, Archive, Captain Crunch) Some old hands, some new recruits, some returning, some just waking up out of habit at this point.
All woke up slightly earlier than usual to commemorate three years of consistent effort at AO-MASTODON and to connect that with the breaking of new ground at AO-TAR PIT. Shovel flag in hand, they shouldered their rucks and started the trek. Having expressed their joy and affection in the heart-language of concrete blocks on Thursday, today they chose that brotherly, common language of time-under-load called “ruckership”.
Across differences of life experience and opinions about acceptable coffee-drinking pace and concerns about the Q’s sense of direction, the conversation flowed freely in the Gloom as the PAX rucked double-file. Work, unemployment, parenting, gardening, and the whole round world was ranged in our broad collection. YHC marveled at the assortment of interests and talents on display in such a narrow subset of individuals as had descended on F3 Wheaton in the past year. The miles ticked off quickly as the fellowship sped on in merriment.
Having received intelligence of a potential large object that could be “returned” to the dig-site of our mascot, we made a quick detour to try our strength against a discarded remnant of Perry (a broken chunk of telephone pole). While our heart was in the attempt, and even as the best among us were digging deep to soldier on at all costs, we ultimately saw wisdom less than 200 yards later. Nails, bulk, and the inability to get enough men underneath the load convinced us to let Perry repose in the Gloom only slightly nearer to our destination than before. We did however manage to bring a considerably smaller but no less symbolic relic of Perry along with us, and traded off carrying the more manageable load.
Crossing the new AO we wandered out the other side on to side streets and down dirt paths (even as the PAX’s doubts began to mount once more). But we had arrived at that forgotten remote spot where Perry had been unearthed years before. Our resident historian-bard, DaVinci said a few appropriate words to mark the occasion, and we set our relic adrift on the waters as the dawn rose.
Returning to the TAR PIT, Archive lead us in a prayer of gratitude and hope, as we asked for blessing on this AO and to the PAX who would labor there in the Gloom. Then, flag planted, and mindful of the time, we celebrated the moment with some Thrusters IC, before beginning the return trip to be present for the beatdown that was soon to take place at MASTODON.
The route home was direct, but hilly. YHC, unable to shake his one year of cross-country training, took it upon himself to charge up every hill of significant speed, exhorting the rest of the PAX to do the same. Flagging energy, but excellent pace saw the PAX quickly returned to their starting-place, to be greeted enthusiastically by the PAX who held down the day’s regular schedule. Partnering up, they moved seamlessly from Rucking to Blocks, to cap off not just an historic day, but an historic month for F3 Wheaton. And all before breakfast.
The PAX spent, they sat down to feast on burritos and (eventually) donuts and coffee. The energy of the day seemed a good omen for the group as we turned to our dual objectives of growing into two AOs and weathering the deepening Gloom of another Chicago winter.
An impressive 22 PAX joined for this Saturday’s beatdown at AO Mastodon. Big Mac, Panhandle, Banks, Jazzhandz, Da Vinci, Archive, Captain Crunch, Wet Burrito, Tortuga (respect), Shiplap, Crack, K-pop (hate), Hotbox, Nickerdoodle, Smokey, Noodles, Bloomer, SAGA, Crash (hate), Double Beef and Cheddar (hate), To Big To Fail, Katniss (Q).
WOR:
7X Motivators Hand release merkins X 25 Squats x 25 IC *Grab a coupon, head to base of hoffa
Thang: Heads or Tails? *Partner up
Reps and Time – those are the two ways we structure our exercises. One will win, we don’t know which until the coin flip at the end of the morning (Heads for reps, tails for time). You and your partner must yourself on both, not knowing which will win
For each round: Each partner team must perform the Round’s coupon exercises. When each partner finishes they may begin the bonus exercise and try to rack up as many reps as possible before starting the round’s run. Only the bonus exercise reps count for the total.
Bonus: Burpees Run: Big mile (later shortened to Hoffa Bridge > Parking lot > Hoffa due to time)
COT: 22 is an incredible number of PAX for a gloomy Saturday, especially after 12 had just completed an 8-mile ruck. Way to hang in there men.
Prayers for rest and sleep for those not getting it right now. Prayers for Tortuga’s wife as she adjusts to life back in the U.S.
Following the workout we were treated to some wet burritos from Mi Casa courtesy of…Wet Burrito.. And some coffee and donuts thanks to Captain Crunch and M. Big thanks men and M’s for treating us so well. We’re thankful on this third anniversary of F3Wheaton to have such incredible engagement and such a solid group of HIMs. Let’s keep it going!
