Backblasts

Inspired by @Jäzz Händz “good things come in threes,” the @Da Vinci code was revealed on Thursday Shredtember 24th as simply “3” to celebrate the third anniversary week of F3. Workout commenced with 3 count Motivators (which sort of worked) followed by 3 count imperial walkers (which did not work but 2Q @Noodles saved them). During the stretch more desert fathers lore was unfurled (full text downloadable here), with quotes (up through the third letter of the Greek alphabet) dispatched between exercises. We ran the short loop with 3 merkens at each light. Then the Q attempted to light three sparklers, a stunt that was not completed until the double barrel fire pit that night hosted fest that evening chez @Captain Crunch (thanks again to the whole crunch family for the hospitality).

Coupon exercises were clock derkens in 3s, Alpo/rows in 3s (the dud of the set), BBSU/LBC in 3s (a nice burn), chest press dollies in 3s (which improved with simultaneity). We closed with Heartbreak 123. 100 merkens, 200 BBSU, 300 squats with 3 hilltop merkens, and (unlike my first Q) this time we actually finished. COT kicked off with the dying words of Abba Bessarion from I Thessalonians 5:16,17,18:

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in all things give thanks.

Easy to rejoice with the company of what @SAGA has dubbed (if I recall the charred poem correctly) these mighty merken men.

Shamu and Gummibear arrived at AO Mastodan. The AO was a buzz of activity, with the tennis courts lit up and in full use, and cars set up through the various parking lots with a kind of tail gaiting hang out party going on. Sometimes I forget that there is a night life after 9pm.

The Thang: We set out on a run heading towards AO Tarpit. We ran 2.5 miles out and 2.5 miles back for a total of just over 5 miles at a 7:53m pace. I must admit the fog of shredtember has begun to cloud my brain. While it was a beautiful, almost summer evening, and we had good conversation, I felt as though we were running at a 6 mile pace. I was hoping at some point Shamu would volunteer that we walk or at least slow a bit, but he did not. He did not seem to be panting as I was. I was tired. I am tired. My feet were hurting from nothing in particular. I believe I asked Shamu to repeat something he had just told me about 10 different times. I was great company.

COT: Prayers for a family both Shamu and I know, as the mother health limitations. That God would bless them and be gracious to them.

5:30am on a beautiful Friday morning Wetburrito and Gummibear met at AO Tarpit for Iron paxs week 2. We were tired, as it was the end of the week and end of Shredtember. We were a bit groggy and perhaps slightly dehydrated from the AO Mastodan year three celebrations and festivities the night prior. We were a bit jaded with mankind’s fallen nature, after learning that the EC ruck accomplished last night would not count for any points, depite Shiplap stating that it would count prior to the ruck. We were a bit saddened for our once close friend DaVinci and his inability to understand what a real EC must entail and his Brutis like chess moves as of late. We were heartbroken for dear Tortuga and his pursuit of glory that may not be realized. However, despite all this we posted, and we worked. We did not complain that 2.5 miles away at the same time, some of our brothers were gathered and conducting a much easier EC, an EC organized after this one. No we did not judge them, not even once.

Thang:

Scoring: Total reps completed in 43 minutes.  

The time begins with the start of the 400m run and ends 43 mins later with your final rep. The total reps completed in 43 minutes is your final score.
*The 400m run does not count towards the rep total, but MUST be completed at the beginning of each round. 

WOD:
Place coupon at Shovel Flag.  Start timer.  Complete a 400m run that starts and ends at Shovel Flag (do not carry block)

Pick up block and complete 10 Thrusters at the Shovel Flag

Rifle carry coupon to cone A (please completely move beyond/around cone)

Complete 25 Decline Merkins at cone A

Rifle carry coupon back to Shovel Flag (please completely move beyond/around Shovel Flag)

Complete 10 Thrusters at the Shovel Flag

Rifle carry coupon to cone B

Complete 25 Blockees at cone B

Rifle carry coupon back to Shovel Flag

Complete 10 Thrusters at the Shovel Flag

Rifle carry coupon to cone C

Complete 25 Weighted Squats at cone C

Rifle carry coupon back to Shovel Flag

Complete 10  Thrusters at the Shovel Flag

Rifle carry coupon to cone D

Complete 25 Kettle Bell Swings at cone D

Rifle carry coupon back to Shovel Flag

Complete 10 Thrusters at the Shovel Flag

Rifle carry coupon to cone E

Complete 25 Vertical Block Presses at cone E

Rifle carry coupon back to Shovel Flag

Complete 10 Thrusters at the Shovel Flag

Rifle carry coupon to cone F

Complete 25 Alpos at cone F

Rifle carry coupon back to Shovel Flag

Complete 10 Thrusters at the Shovel Flag

**This completes one full round** 

Rinse and repeat for 43 minutes. 

Results: Wet Burrito posted an impressive 510 reps completing two rounds and finishing off with 25 manmakers. Gummibear completed 460 reps completing two rounds and the first round of thrusters.

NOR/COT: Prayers for Davinci and his ability to tell the difference between right and wrong and a true EC vs a fake one.

It was extra gloomy morning and the sprinklers were on full force when YHC showed up at the Tarp Pit. We have had a great showing for the entire IPC competition and week 4 was no exception. The PAX were anxious to start, but also to complete the final week of IPC.

WOR: PAX were instructed to show up early and get prepared as they needed. We the clock struck 5:30 we did a quick 7 count of motivator and demonstrated the workout to ensure proper form.

PAX: Captain Crunch, Saga, Katniss, Shiplap (Q), Big Mac, Crack, T-Bone, Banks, Wet Burrito, DaVinci, Hotbox, Tortuga (respect), Noodles, Gummi Bear

The Thang:

1 Round For Time

10 Burpee Block Jump Overs (BBJO)
Murder Bunny 25yds
25 Thruster
Return to the goal line with your block

10 Burpee Block Jump Overs (BBJO)
Murder Bunny 50yds
50 Alternating block merkins
Return to the goal line with your block

10 Burpee Block Jump Overs (BBJO)
Murder Bunny 75yds
75 Curl Presses
Return to the goal line with your block

10 Burpee Block Jump Overs (BBJO)
Murder Bunny 100yds
100 Block Windshield Wipers
Return to the goal line with your block
10 Burpee Block Jump Overs (BBJO)

COT: As always we gave praise for our health, ability to workout, our M’s and 2.0s. We pray for the colleges, school, and staff as they guide through Covid19. We also pray for all the families/people that are going through a difficult time.

The night prior I had run into some discouragement as it appeared no one would HC for this EC. It is difficult for me to comprehend why this could be, as the EC was to begin at 4:45am; prime time for working out. To make matters worse, SAGA was sending me rude GIFs. I nearly canceled the EC, I felt like giving up on Shredtember, despite us being so close to the end.

Then, Hotbox, seemingly out of nowhere HC’d very late in the evening. Words cannot express what this gesture meant to one who had nearly given up hope on this EC.

I arrived at the AO a bit early, not wanting to arrive late or sleep in for a 4:45am EC session that I called. As I drove up, I realized that the morning could not be described as simply gloomy, but rather it was dark. Pitch dark.

The Thang:

Hotbox and Gummibear stepped off on a ruck around the AO at 4:45am. I must admit we had coffees in hand, but we were still working, we were rucking. In all we rucked two large loops around the AO plus a bit more. What were the other details you ask? What did we discuss? It was a wonderfully thought provoking discussion in all. We talked about “deep work”, “failure vs losing”, gravitas, work in general, and raising children. it was rather deep on a very applicable level. The morning in all was very beautiful and the temperature perfect. As we crossed the last bridge and stepped from the gravel path onto the brick paver parking lot, there was Divinci, preparing to begin his session….

NOR/COT

We met up at “shipping and receiving” by the tennis courts where we filled the tires, checked the tread, fired up the engines, and loaded the cargo to deliver the goods. 10 PAX in the fleet: SAGA, Archive, Captain Crunch, Sparrow, Cookies, Banks, Shiplap, Da Vinci, BigMac, Wet Burrito.

Disclaimer: I’m not a professional, you are here at your own risk, modify as necessary.

WoR

Motivators; Tappy Taps; Mountain Climbers; Arm Circles

RUCKS ON…

Thang 1: Shuffled around the lake.

Thang 2: pull-ups into squats for 5 while partner did some merkins

Thang 3: Ruck to the lamp posts – 5 squats at each post with a shuffle to the next post to increase by 5 reps each stop until 40 squats

Thang 4: Ruck/Suffle to the ball diamond for a partner race: lunge to first, bear crawl to second, shuffle home – while waiting pax did squats, Al Gore, & planks in rotation

Thang 5: Shuffle to hoffa for a Jacob’s Ladder (run up, 1 burpee, run down and back up 2 burpees, etc. until near time).

Thang 6: Manrise! Dropped the weight and sprinted to the top of hoffa.

Mary: 25 flutter kicks

Moleskin: The journey is easier in a pack. All that weight you carry will one day come off.

Prayer for: Jobs, families, and faithful living.

A nice crisp morning, day before the final IronPax workout, boy is it getting dark out here. All the more reason to #focus. 14 HIMs showed (BigMac, Cookies, Noodles, Saga, Shamu, Gummi Bear, Shiplap, Cap’n Crunch, Smokey, Panhandle, Da Vinci, Wet Burrito, Bloomer, Tortuga, T-Bone).

Disclaimer: I’m not a professional, you know more than me about your situation. It’s on you to #focus

WoR

Good Mornings; Tappy taps; Goofballs; Toy soldiers (Katniss style); Mountain climbers

Thang 1: W a partner #focus on form, prepare for tomorrow’s Q
Burpee block jump overs x10
Murder bunnies 10 out & 10 back
Block thrusters x10
Alternative merkins x10
Curl presses x10
Vertical block windshield wipers x10

Thang 2: “Hill” run (Building #focus now)
Each round builds one more exercise and repeats all the preceding exercises and quantities.
1x Run up (or down)
2x Burpees
3x Merkins
4x Lateral lunge (both sides=1)
5x Mountain climbers (both sides=1)
6x Reverse planks
7x Air squats (90 degrees)
8x Standard lunges (both sides=1)
9x Plank high-lows (both arms down and up=1)
10x Alternating leg-arm plank lifts (both sides=1)
11x Star jumps
12x Hodors (all together)
Mosey back

Moleskin: How are you spending your #focus?
Turns out our minds can only consciously focus on one thing at a time. That makes it a scarce resource (ECONOMICS BABY!). Use it wisely!
Philippians 4:8, NIV: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

Prayer for: Jobs/school, exhaustion, friend of Smokey’s, friend of Bloomer’s wife’s cancer treatment.

Seven Paxs met at 5:30am on a brisk saturday morning at AO tarpit. We conducted a quick warmup and then split into two groups; one of which conducted the iron paxs week three challenge and the other did a misc workout routine. There were a few surprises here, including a buzzer beater HC by Big Mac and Hotbox deciding to do ironpax, and Banks and Tortuga doing iron paxs week three for the second time.

Warmup: on Your own: stretching & jogging.

The group that did not do Ironpax was comprised of katness, Big Mac, and Gummibear. This group did the following workout:

Warm up: bear crawl from sideline to sideline and karaoke back.

Thang:

Rifle carry coupon 10 yards stop and do 10 thrusters, rifle carry coupon 10 yards stop and do 10 uneven push ups, rifle carry coupon 20 yards and do 10 hoders. Repeat 3 times.

We then went on to the track where we encouraged those competing in iron paxs. To offer encouragement we did 400 meters worth of lunges along the track. I am still a bit sore from these this morning.

We then went to a chest/tri station doing the following 3xs: 12 coupon extensions, 25 bleacher dips, 25 bleacher decline push ups.

We ended with running with the iron pax competitors finishing up.

The group that competed in ironpax was: Tortuga, Noodles, Banks, and Hotbox. Kudos to Hodox for finishing in sub 37 minutes! Also it was great seeing Banks and Tortuga do ironpax week three a second time. Banks took two minutes off his original time. Nice job to Noodles for getting this in. Lets have as many of us possible complete iron paxs this fall.

NOR/COT.

14 PAX posted this morning on an extra dewy and chilly morning:

1. Wet Burrito
2. Archive
3. Tortuga (respect)
4. Cookies (FNG, welcome)
5. DBC (hate)
6. Sparrow
7. Noodles
8. Smokey
9. Nickerdoodle (FNG, welcome – yes this is his new official name!)
10. Saga
11. Captain Crunch
12. Da Vinci
13. Banks
14. Jazz Handz

By the end we all had morning dew puddles in our shoes and gloves as souvenirs. In true Jazz Handz fashion, I couldn’t just make it a stock set of routines from the exicon. YHC is always trying to one up myself from last time to get up to a beatdown the other pax bemoan and remember. Here’s how the morning went:

WoR

• 7 motivators IC
• 15 windmills
• 20 goof balls IC
• Daisy pickers (touch each foot) timed by Q
• Arm circles OYO forwards and backwards, big and small

Get the blood moving, let’s follow the Q:

PAX each grabbed a coupon, and moseyed in a single file line up Hoffa, around the upper perimeter, and down again. Drop the coupons at foot of Hoffa for later use, count off into groups of 3 (had 4 groups of 3, and 1 group of 2). Then pax dispersed to the various stations listed below for the first Thang.

Thang 1

“Dora’s Twisted Sisters”  

Three pax & three exercises per station. Six minutes per station. 4 stations total.

This took much longer than expected simply due to learning curve and communicating the “game mechanics” of this twisted routine. Once explained we were off to the races with my faithful 2Q Da Vinci calling when to rotate your group of three to the next station.

The “Dora 1-2-3” exercises per 3 pax were 150 merkins, 250 LBCs, 350 squats. If you finish before hitting all 4 stations, start another Dora count over with 100 merkins, 200 LBCs, 300 squats! Once you’ve hit all four stations and your team has complete at least one Dora count, run a lap around Hoffa, stop at coupons and do a 10x rep coupon workout of your choice. Hold for next group to finish and do a lap with them. Rinse and repeat. Until all pax have completed their 123 workouts at all 4 stations.

STATIONS

Each set of 3 pax worked a station for 6 minutes, with a little mumble chatter and moseying between rotating stations. When the “pace” (traveling) exercise per station had been executed per pax, teammates flapjacked within their station like normal Dora (but there are three tasks instead of two to maintain:

1. COOTEEs (Circle is Outdoor Training Exercise Equipment)
   Pull ups + Sprint to flag/back again (pace) + 123 goal
   6 minutes, then rotate
   
2. HALF WALLS
   Dips + Sprint around playground/pavilion (pace) + 123 goal
   6 minutes, then rotate
   
3. TRIPLE SLIDE MINI HILL
   Mount climbers (inclined?) + bear crawl up around slide / crab walk down around other side (pace) + 123 goal
   6 minutes, then rotate
   
4. Base of Hoffa
   1 pax runs (pace), 1 pax coupon work of choice + 123 goal
   • This station can accommodate two groups
     6 minutes, then rotate

Thang 2

“The Jazz Handz Special: 9x Welsh Dragons”

In Welsh Drago alley, just north of the baseball diamond.

Reminder how this exercise works: Remain in plank position the whole time. Bear crawl forward 4 steps, do 1 merkin, 1 plank jack, and tap the BACK of each shoulder 1 time. Repeat adding 1 rep to each exercise each time – bear crawl forward 4 steps, do 2 merkins, 2 plank jacks, 2 sets of back of shoulder taps… etc. Go until you get to 10 reps each, you’ve covered 30-50 feet, or until your arms fall off – whichever comes first.

Mary

Sadly no time for proper Mary. Just a little planking while we held for Six to circle up at the flag.

CoR/NoR/CoT

Prayers for work transitions and new opportunities

Praise that Archive and his entire family’s covid tests came back negative including the false-positive on his MIL.

Continued prayer for Jazz Handz sleep and anxiety

Grateful to have our two new FNG’s: Cookies and Nickerdoodle

Moleskine

So thankful for you men and the drive this group has instilled in me. Let’s each work towards being a “mensch” in our community and family. Mensch is a yiddish word for a man of integrity and honor. That starts with you against yourself. If you can muster up the nerve to workout with a bunch of crazy men in the mud and mire of an early morning, you can go back to your homes and communities and live with that same energy. Sacrifice and serve, watch out for the “sixes” in your life—who is trailing behind? Who can you bolster up and encourage? Also, who do you know who can benefit from the community and encouragement that is F3? Look out for those men who need this, who might not even know they need it. Watch their backs, hold for the six. Aye.

Coffeteria