6.21.21 — Ruck Day Classic

After a surprisingly eventful night of severe weather, the midsummer dawn arrived serenely as 14 PAX (Banks, Big Mac, Shiplap, Da Vinci, Jolly, Panhandle, Dr. Phil, SAGA, Noodles, Cookies, Getaway/Babysitter(disambiguation?), Reels, Babe, Captain Crunch(QIC)) arrived groggy but ready for their weekly dose of monday. 2 Runners, 5 Ruckers, and 7 Murphers.

After a warm-up:
– 10 Mountain Man Poopers
– 10 Goofballs
– 10 Abe Vigodas
– Arm Circles OYO
Ruck Crew got a treated to a classic Crunch prayer-walk:
– Merkin Mile (Mile Loop, 25 Ruck Merkins on the quarters)
– A brief stop at Rucker Point to lift up those who will find there way to F3 Wheaton in the future.
– Thruster Mile (Mile Loop, 10 Thrusters on the quarters)

COR/NOR/COT: prayers for Banks’ son, heading to camp for the first time — for Panhandle’s son off to the Dominican Republic on a missions trip — for Tortuga, DBC and other PAX travelling or soon to be travelling — for Cookies’ M’s friend and her many struggles — for those who walk alone and need F3 in their life

MOLESKIN: It was easy to see and feel the difference of time from 2018 to now. I am grateful for the impulse to pray for unknown PAX during those months, and overjoyed at the current form of Mondays.

5.29.21 — Just a bit of silliness, really

In the immortal words of Dolly Parton: “Hit ’em where the sun don’t shine.”

In contrast to Wednesday, the sunrise was crowning the trees in glory at AO-TAR PIT, as 10 intrepid PAX (Big Mac, Beaker, Draper, SAGA, Panhandle, Noodles, Hot Box, Da Vinci, Katniss, Capn Crunch(QIC)) gathered for what promised to be an atypical day. The Q did have a plan, but the details were yet to be filled in in their entirety. Without much explanation and some odd warnings, they began their adventure. The objective was to work out some muscles we haven’t used since grade school.

Warm-O-Rama:
– Goofballs IC x20
– Abe Vigoda IC x10
– Batwings IC x10
– Mountain Man Poopers IC x20

Recon Jog

Thang 1: DIY OCR

We all pray in different ways, and in our own way we lended our thoughts and support to those brave souls entering into the Frontline OCR. We divided into two teams of 10 and took turns making stuff up, establishing routes for us to race across or around the playground, performing different exercises or feats of athleticism against members of the other team.

Highlights include Bear Crawls, more Bear Crawls, Bear Snake, Bear Indian Run, pull ups at extreme heights, Dolly Partons(reprise), Derkin sprints, gimpy one-legged-race + burpees (gimpees?), and a kiddy slide that almost defeated the entire gathering of the PAX, and Hot Box and Beaker closing out the day showing everyone how it’s done on the 5 meter beam cross.

Thang 2: Adult Duck Duck Goose

Inspired by one of (not yet)FiA’s workouts, the PAX circled up for a bit of Duck Duck Goose before continuing their OCR. Like normal duck duck goose (or grey duck???), except that all the PAX perform a standing exercise, and when you get called “duck” you perform 10 merkins. Afterwards, we continued the choose your own OCR.

COR/NOR/COT: prayers of thanks for Noodles’ opportunities and the many blessings of life — thanks and intercession in the midst of SAGA’s trials/blessings — for Panhandle’s daughter in Mexico — for the Frontline OCR crew and their endeavors and camaraderie

Backblast – 5.17.2021 – Today was a Good Day

As we continue our FNG/Kotter drive, today proved to be another successful drive and PAX brought in 3 more FNGs. Per usual Ruckers remained and Runners ran like the wind.

WoR: Motivators x7, Abe Vigodas, x16, Tappy Taps x15

The Thang: Ruck/Shuffle/PT

PAX went on a ruck around the AO and stopped for the following PT stations:

Station #1 – Bolt 45s (15 squats down to halfway position and return. 15 squats from halfway down position to full squat position and return up to halfway position. 15 full squats or jump squats.
Station #2 – Dan Taylors x7 (1 squat, 4 lunges, 2 squats, 8 lunges, etc.)
Station #3 – 1 Round of ATMs (15 shoulder taps, 15 slow tempo merkins, 15 fast tempo merkins)
Station #4 – Bear Crawl Snake up Hoffa (Snake up Hoffa, PAX at the end weaves in and out to the top of the line, next PAX at end of the line begins crawl).

Plank for the 6.

Got a nice lather in for the day and encouraged some of the running PAX along the way.

NoR – .

CoT – Praise for Whittler’s recent engagement. May God continue to bless his relationship and plans for marriage. Praising God for F3 and the recent growth. Allow old and new PAX to recognize the benefits of this group. Allow us to continue planting seeds with other man that need F3 but don’t know it yet.

Backblast – 5.17.2021 – Today was a Good Day

As we continue our FNG/Kotter drive, today proved to be another successful drive and PAX brought in 3 more FNGs. Per usual Ruckers remained and Runners ran like the wind.

WoR: Motivators x7, Abe Vigodas, x16, Tappy Taps x15

The Thang: Ruck/Shuffle/PT

PAX went on a ruck around the AO and stopped for the following PT stations:

Station #1 – Bolt 45s (15 squats down to halfway position and return. 15 squats from halfway down position to full squat position and return up to halfway position. 15 full squats or jump squats.
Station #2 – Dan Taylors x7 (1 squat, 4 lunges, 2 squats, 8 lunges, etc.)
Station #3 – 1 Round of ATMs (15 shoulder taps,
Station #4 – Bear Crawl Snake up Hoffa

Plank for the 6.

Got a nice lather in for the day and encouraged some of the running PAX along the way.

NoR – .

CoT – Praise for Whittler’s recent engagement. May God continue to bless his relationship and plans for marriage. Praising God for F3 and the recent growth. Allow old and new PAX to recognize the benefits of this group. Allow us to continue planting seeds with other man that need F3 but don’t know it yet.

Backblast: Rucking and Running With Cookies 04/19/2021 5:30AM at AO MASTODON

We Rucked, we ran. Ruckers got in 3.33 miles which is a personal best for 45 minutes for at least one PAX. Some of the runners came early for a “warm up mile” EC and logged north of 6 miles.

NOR:

Archive, Babe, Captain Crunch, Crack and Doolie Dog, Cookies (Q), Da Vinci, Dr Phil, Jolly, Panhandle, SAGA, Shiplap, Tortuga

Backblast: Revised SuperDora 03/23/2021 5:30AM @ AO MASTODON

One month ago YHC attempted to create something Super, but as has been observed lately, this PAX never does anything half-assed. In this case it was not only too complicated, but also an insane quantity of reps that even the valiant baker’s dozen HIMs could not complete. Now, with the warmer weather, a new version of the SuperDora has emerged, and the PAX of F3-Wheaton were ready to meet the challenge: Banks, Beaker, Big Mac, Cookies (Q), Da Vinci, Hotbox, Jolly, Katniss, Panhandle, Saga, Shiplap, T-bone, Tortuga, Whittler

WOR: Daisy pickers and some leg stretching, Arm circles and some arm stretching.

THANG: SuperDora, revised version

Instead of pairs, the entire PAX was challenged to complete exercise reps including both cardio exercises and PT. Carry your coupon with you everywhere you go, and don’t linger at any one station too long. Exercise completion tracked by moving tokens from one bucket to another at 4 stations:

Station 1 – Hoffa: 50 tokens

1 Redrum up and down Hoffa per token

Station 2 – Cooties: 100 tokens

5 Pull ups or 10 Inverted rows or 10 Kettlebell swings or 10 Derkins per token

Station 3 – SHOP: 150 tokens

10 Curls or 10 Chest press or 10 Overhead press or 10 Tricep Extensions or 20 One arm rows or 5 Picnic table press per token

Station 4 – lamppost: 200 ‘tokens’

10 BBSUs or 10 Outlaws or 10 American Hammers or 5 Hodors per token

The PAX split up and got to work. It turns out that the Cooties and SHOP were very popular and all reps were finished before 6am, but there were plenty of Mary and Redrums still on the board to keep the PAX going to the end. With one Redrum token remaining and less than a minute left a beautiful Manrise rounded things out and the Q deemed the SuperDora complete!

3.24.2021 – This Goose Was Cooked (Martyr Q) @AO Tarpit

Warm-O-Rama

Early morning gloom, so early the sun hadn’t even posted yet, but 13 PAX had (well 12 had and SAGA would be joining shortly) (Babe, Panhandle, Shiplap, Banks, Whittler, Da Vinci, T-Bone, Gummi Bear, Noodles, Tortuga, SAGA, Katniss, Big Mac (QIC)).

Disclaimer (and Spoiler) Jan Hus found a cause worth dying for, an F3 morning workout is not worth dying for. Modify as necessary.

Warm-o-Rama:

Jan Hus – Born in the late 14th century. The exact year is disputed (sometime in the range of 1369-1375)

14 burpees

Born in Husinec, literally “Goosetown” from whence he received his surname.

10 Goose steps (like a tin soldier but elevate foot on ground to tip-toe)

Born into poverty to peasant parents,

10 lunges

Huss trained for the priesthood "I had thought to become a priest quickly in order to secure a good livelihood and dress and to be held in esteem by men."

10 good mornings

Committed to study hard

10 mountain climbers

Headed to Prague

Mosey to wheel

Earned his bachelors, masters and doctorate – 50 curls for bachelors run the hill, 50 bent over rows for masters run the hill, 50 overhead press for doctorate run the hill.

Along the way ordained- Rifle carry up and down the hill.

Encountered the writings of John Wycliffe, stirred interest in the Bible. "When the Lord gave me knowledge of Scriptures, I discharged that kind of stupidity from my foolish mind."

Preacher at Prague’s Bethlehem Chapel (Seats 3000) Preached in Czech not Latin

Mosey to the stadium and run the steps

Starts placing more emphasis on Bible, and more authority on church councils. Re: Bible "desiring to hold, believe, and assert whatever is contained in them as long as I have breath in me."

20 thrusters to lift up the Word of God.

Rift emerges, German and Bohemian sects, Two Popes vie for rule of Christendom

Murder bunnies to opposite ends, rifle carry back. It’s a race.

Everybody loses, both popes deposed. Church council elects Alexander V. Alexander bribed to side against Huss. Huss is branded a heretic and excommunicated. Excommunication only on paper.

Continues to preach.

20 thrusters to lift up the Word of God.

Antipope John XXIII replaces Alexander. Tries to raise money to conquer others vying for papal authority by selling indulgences. Huss is outraged.

10 Blockbees.

Speaks out and is excommunicated for real this time.

Mosey back to Wheel.

1414 – Council of Constance, Huss invited by Holy Roman Emperor, promised safe conduct and enticed by possibility of significant church reforms agreed to travel.

Two Laps around the wheel and then rifle carry to flag.

On arrival immediately arrested and asked to recant on views (papal authority is higher than protection of Roman emperor). No recanting, stops appealing to king, structures of medieval church or even the pope. He appeals to higher authority, Jesus Christ.

20 thrusters, uphold the Word of God.

He is buried in a mound of wood up to his neck. Asked one last time by Duke of Bavaria to recant beliefs.

"No, (said Huss;) I never preached any doctrine of an evil tendency; and what I taught with my lips I now seal with my blood.

20 thrusters

From Foxe’s Book of Martyrs "You are now going to burn a goose, (Huss signifying goose in the Bohemian language:) but in a century you will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil." If he were prophetic, he must have meant Martin Luther, who shone about a hundred years after, and who had a swan for his arms.

Every account I’ve read has him singing hymns as he died in the flames.

Moleskin – There are many cries for justice these days. I’m not sure I could clearly state what the word means, but by listening to those crying out it seems to be a deep sense that all is not right in the world and a longing for something better. Perhaps the climax of Huss’s life is the point when he stops appealing to any earthly authority. All had let him down, the Bavarian King, the Roman Emperor, the Medieval Church and the Pope, all he has left is Christ, and it is to Christ he makes his final appeal. As Christians, we lament injustice, but it does not surprise us. Our hope is not in any of the institutions of earth but in Christ.

Prayer: Babe’s grandfather, T-bone’s M (medical procedure), Noodles for wisdom in job-related conversations.

3.20.21 — The Vanilla* Spartan

In the early dawn 12 PAX (Banks, Jolly, Panhandle, DaVinci, HotBox, Katniss, Beaker, Bloomer, Saga, Gummi Bear, Tortuga, Capn Crunch(QIC)) found themselves at a frost covered TAR PIT where YHC was eager to start the clock. After a quick warm-up of usual exercises, and some mumbled comments about leg-work. They shouldered the available sandbags and ruck (120/65/65/30, respectively) and did a recon mosey of the south football field, ultimately deciding to make due with the IronPAX field despite its tarp cover.

Having attempted a full Spartan at the Mastodon without success on multiple occasions, the Q had his eye set on the full 30 rounds today, with ample time available if they didn’t mess around. He had full faith in the PAX.

Warm-o-Rama:

  • Motivators x 7
  • Mountain Man Poopers IC x 10
  • Abe Vigodas IC x 10
  • Sandbag recon mosey

The Spartan:

Having attempted something like a Spartan a few times, always with heavy modification, this would be the first time the F3-Wheaton crowd had done it vanilla (i.e., flat ground, 100 yards, no coupons), and the routine was new to many of the PAX. Thankfully it was incredibly easy to explain. But that didn’t stop the Q from failing to fill in all the details, opting instead to start the PAX off with just the first third having been verbalized.

Rounds 1-10: The Time Hack

  • Run 100 yards, 10 Merkins, mosey back, EMOM — This was vanilla enough. However, our mosey was timed, and an aggressive benchmark of EMOM Spartans was thrown down by the Q, while still waiting for the return of the 6 before starting each round. We were close, but averaged about 1min 12 seconds overall, for a 12 minute finish time on this third. The Q decided a quicker pace was needed to ensure victory.

Rounds 11-20: The Millennial Mosey

  • Run 100 yards, 10 Merkins, 30 LBCs(Millennial style) — To shorten the cycle time without killing the 6, we dropped the mosey, and instead “rested” for the length of time it took for the first PAX to reach 30 LBCs. At that point all PAX jumped to the line for the next run.

Rounds 21-30: No Bag Left Behind

  • Run 100 yards, 10 Merkins, mosey back (+sandbags) —With the time gained by the Millennial cheat on the middle third, we had 20 minutes left in the Q to finish the final 10 rounds. We could afford an actual mosey. The group was fairly close together on pace, so the Q explained that the sandbags were there in case someone was too far ahead of the group and needed more resistance in their workout. The PAX took this as an invitation and for most of the remaining rounds all bags were shouldered for the first half of the run (dropping them at the 50 yard and finishing the sprint).

Finishing with a few minutes left on the clock, they rounded out with some Mary, and appreciated just how much hip-flexors are involved in our favorite “ab” exercises.

3MoM:

  • Ol’ Ironsides: (Boat/Canoe + American Hammer IC x 10) x 2
  • Oblique LBCs — Right IC x 10, Left IC x 10
  • LBCs IC x 10

MOLESKIN: Break your tasks into small chunks and keep chipping away. Achieve what you set out to do.

COR/NOR/COT: Prayers for Jazz Hands’ friends Bryan and Lauren — Wisdom for Hot Box and M as they seek to navigate family conversations — For Tortuga’s M and Saga’s M — for all the brothers, that they would lean into life / work / family as well as they do their workouts, and that we would both have and give support in those spheres.

Glad to hang with the TAR PIT boys after a long time away, seeing faces old and new and appreciating just how much is going on across F3 Wheaton in a given week. Not captured on film, but seared in my memory of this morning: The glory of Gummi Bear’s tireless flying across a field of frosted grass yards ahead of the pack. DaVinci’s dogged grip on his bag for the full 100 yards plus the merkins and the return. Bloomer cleaning 120 pounds just like everyone imagines themselves doing in the moment before their first attempt.

The TAR PIT HIMs and their weight
Post-Spartan Mood

SuperDora 02/23/2021 @ AO MASTODON

Knowing that it has been cold lately and there is a LOT of snow and ice on the ground that will be in various states of melting due to the warmer temperatures, the challenge was to create a workout that left the PAX warm and not too wet for coffeeteria. It turns out that the snow was not melty, but instead was packed down firmly with a nice crust on top.

YHC has always been a fan of the Dora, but the Exicon came up short while planning this workout so a new Dora was born, the SUPERDORA. Answering the new challenge were many of the stalwart HIMs: Big Mac, Bloomer, Cookies, Da Vinci, Hotbox, Jolly, Katniss, Panhandle, Saga, Shiplap, TBTF, T-bone (first RESPECT workout!), Tortuga.

Warmorama was a simple classic to get the blood pumping: motivators, goofballs, and a quick lap of high knees around the parking lot while the Q explained the beatdown.

Queue the SuperDora:

Instead of pairs, the entire PAX was challenged to complete exercise reps with interspersed bursts of cardio. (up to 4 exercises between cardio, the PAX chose various strategies)

Cardio options were: run up or down Hoffa, Run to the cooties/SHOP or back (convenient if targeting one of the exercises that are executed there), 15 Burpees, 25 Star Jumps, 30 Mountain climbers

Exercise rep targets were determined by number of PAX to show. The Q failed at math and targeted about 2000 reps per PAX to spread around. It should have been half of that. The board was prepared with 72 marks per exercise group, each mark originally representing 75 reps which the Q revised to 60 reps, it really should have been 30 reps per mark.

Categories and exercises available per type:

4320 – Chest/shoulders: Derkins, Chest press, Picnic table press

4320 – Back/shoulders: Bent over coupon rows, Inverted rows, Pull ups

4320 – Mary: Leg raises, American Hammers, jumping crunches or imperial walkers

4320 – Legs: Weighted squats, Calf raises (4 = 1), Pistol squats

4320 – More: Kettlebell swings, Coupon Curls, Rifle carry (4 paces = 1)

There was a bit of confusion at the beginning, but the PAX quickly figured out their strategies and started their exercises. After a few minutes YHC noticed it was rather quiet, the grunts of hard work and an odd picnic table being dropped were about all that broke the silence. Thankfully Shiplap had already taken matters into his own hands and came back from his rifle carry to the car with Jock Jams pulsing, this clearly invigorated the PAX and they picked up the pace.

Nonetheless, the absurd number of reps planned were not coming off of the board fast enough and ⅔ of the way through the beatdown the Q called “double credit” and each set of 60 reps took 2 marks from the board. Alas, it was too little, too late and we ran out of time with quite a few marks on the board. At least we didn’t run out of exercises before the end of our time.

Prayer Ruck for Wheaton 02/15/2021 @ AO Mastodon

Ruck day does not always have to be hard, but it will always be work!

Another Shackleton, eight PAX accepted the challenge to lift up our community in prayer: @Archive, @Banks, @Crack, @Cookies, @Da Vinci, @Katniss, @Shiplap, @Sparrow.

Warmorama inspired by @Jolly’s VR boxing video, we worked the (imaginary) small bag, took down our virtual opponents on both sides.

The Q hoped in vain for clear sidewalks, instead we made our way the best we could in and out around the perimeter of the AO, praying for the community as we traveled. We prayed for:
– Our neighbors, and the PAX
– Our local churches
– Our local government
– Disadvantaged, refugees, and the poor among our community
– First responders
– Healthcare workers
– Veterans and active military
– Schools and educators
– Our families

Arriving back at the #AO-Mastodon-flag and #OG-Wheaton-flag, we had some extra time so we knocked out some quick warm-down of Mary and Merkins.

Moleskin: It can be easy to get distracted when we pray, wanting to reach out to someone that comes to mind or check up on something. There is nothing wrong with that, but we can’t let that keep us from returning to prayer, for that is where the difference is made.

COT: We have many folks among the PAX that need prayer, keep lifting them up.