The Thang

Thanks to my brothers for coming out this morning.  couldn’t do without you all.

COT

Where: Paddock AO

When: 10/17/18 @ 5:30am

Q: White Wall

Pax: OG, Duggar and White Wall

It was a fine crisp morning in the bluegrass. Thought we might do some more interval training to try to strengthen the overall running. So we did!

First was some warmups

20 side straddle hops

Yada yada yada….we stretched then it was off for the first leg of running.

1/2 mile run to the figure 8 drive.

15 Merkins to a .15 fast run (we won’t kid and call it a sprint though Duggar and OG showed me up the whole way through) to the middle

10 Berkins to a .15 run to the end

15 Merkins to a .15 run back to the middle

10 Berkins to a .15 run back to the entrance

15 Merkins to a .15 run to the middle

10 Berkins to a .15 run to the end

15 Merkins to a .15 run back to the middle

10 Berkins to a .15 run to the entrance

From there we added an extra leg to make the final run stretch close to a mile. After getting some feeling back in the limbs and making sure the burning lungs were gonna make it….we regrouped back at the splash pad.

Putting this workout about an hour before going to bed I thought it would be too simple and wouldn’t push us enough. I was wrong. Simple, thorough and painful. Just what we need first thing in the morning. My boys pulled me along through the grind and we started our day right! Thanks men

Workout Date: 10/15/2018

Introduction:

We met up on a Monday with some nice weather. The ground was wet but other than that it was a beautiful morning. In true F3 LexKY fashion it stopped raining long enough for us to workout and then started again.

Q: OG

PAX: OG, Linc, Duggar, Sous Vide

Warm Up

SSH x 25

GoofBall x 20

Stanky Legs x 20

Grass Grabbers X 20

Chinook X 20

Cobra Dog ….. Cobra to Downward Dog

Bataan death march

Pax Begins to Jog.  Guy at back does 2 Burpees and then sprints to catch up and goes to front of line.

Thang1

Brick by Brick ShuttleCrawl

15 Yards Apart

BBBS

2 Partners

2 Blocks

Partners stand at each end of 15 yards. P1 bear crawls to blocks, carries it back to his start, P1 crawls back again and gets 2^ndblock and carries it back. While P1 is crawling and carrying, P2 is performing the exercises listed below. If either P1 or P2 gets done early. Plank it up!

R1: 15 Burpees

R3: 10 Burpees

R4: 10 BBS

R5: 5 Burpees

R6: 5 BBS

We mosey’d back to AO Start Point (Flag) and proceeded.

CoT:

Prayer Requests given and Prayed for.

Date: 10/10

Location:  Paddock

Time:  5:30am – 6:30am

Q:  White Wall

Pax:  White Wall, Lincoln Log and O.G. (***cough no El Chapo cough***)

Warm Up:  Some quick high knees, butt kickers, ham and hip stretches

The Thang:  So today we made an attempt at interval training or at least my attempt at it.  Looking to get stronger at the overall running for this AO, I figured we might switch it up a little.

1/2 mile run to the figure 8 driveway to the soccer fields.

From there was intervals of .15 mi sprints…kinda anyway with 30 second bootcamps in between each leg.

To start 30 seconds of air squats to .15 run

30 second plank to .15 run

10 Berkin Deconstructed (10 squats, 10 leg thrusts, 10 merkins, 10 leg thrusts and up) to .15 run

30 second Al Gore to .15 run

30 seconds of Freddie Mercury to .15 run

30 seconds of Lunge (ouch!) to .15 run

10 Hand Release Merkins to .15 run

30 seconds of Daniel Son (best we could thru the laughing) to .15 run

20 or so ft of Duck walk to end then another 1/2 mi run back to the car.

All in all I think it was a successful first attempt at interval running with little cool down time.  Next week we will be looking to build on it!!  Back at the car we down some H20 and finish in the usual fashion.  Good runs boys!

Workout Date: 10/08/18

Q: OG

PAX: OG, Duggar

Introduction:

• Are free of charge

• Are open to all men

• Are held outdoors, rain or shine, heat or cold

• Are led by men who participate in the workout in a rotating fashion, with no training or certification necessary

• End with a Circle of Trust

Disclaimer: I am an unpaid volunteer and not a professional. You are here by your own choice and by choosing to participate you assume all risk. You are best able to determine your abilities and should modify the workout as needed to suit your own needs. Stay safe and be alert.

Duggar and I met up at Holy Grail this morning and I had quite the treat for us. I decided the running needed a break and our arms/chest/abs needed a beating. So after our introductory warm up lap it was time to get at it. Almost all of our exercises were done in cadence and together. This intensified the workout and I’m already feeling it. Was super proud of my boy Duggar for pushing so hard. The results can be seen in his physical, mental and spiritual.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” –Mark Twain

Warm-O-Rama:

The THANG I:

The THANG II:

Mary:

CoT:

Nicholasville north workout – “cool name coming soon”

Warmup –

Mosey around the playground 2 laps

Side Strattle hops – 25

Forward arm circles -30 secs

Backward arm circles – 30 secs

Near/fars – 30 secs (knuckles at temples, close arms to elbows in front of face, open arms out past shoulders)

Main beat down

– Sphinx plank pushups – on leader call

– Skater lunges – 20

– Downward Dog Crunches – 2 sets each leg

– Side lunge jumpshots – 10 per side

– Elevator Mericans – on leader call

– Double Uppercut Sprawls 10 per side

– Roll up V’s – 20

– One leg jump squats – 10 per side

– Wide armed Mericans – 20

– Elbow/over the top Elbow sprawl – 10 per side

– Leg Scissor Twists – 2 sets 20

– Warrior Squat lunges – 10 per side

– Basketball court suicide with side strattle hops at each interval escalating increments of 5

– V up crunches – 20

Cool down in the rain

-mountain climbers – burnout

Ring sweat out of shirt and start the day. Get some!

Q: OG

PAX: Biscuit, Incognito, Duggar, OG

Workout Date: 10/01/2018

Introduction:

This is our second beatdown at our AO in Versailles, KY (Holy Grail). On this first day of October I wanted to get a good variety of muscle recruitment. It was a beautiful morning. We were in low 70s and in true LexKY fashion …. Rain free. Ha.

Disclaimer: I am an unpaid volunteer and not a professional. You are here by your own choice and by choosing to participate you assume all risk. You are best able to determine your abilities and should modify the workout as needed to suit your own needs. Stay safe and be alert.

Warm-O-Rama:

SSH x 20

Pavement Grabbers x 12

Abe Vigodas x 15

Arm Circles x 20 (10 forward, 10 back)

The THANG:

We went old school and “simple”. We rocked a DOLLY. We broke up into teams of two. That is 2 teams if you can’t do the math! 😉 While 1 partner was exercising, the other ran @50 yards, performed 2 burpees and then returned. The exercises were 100 Merikans, 200 LBCs, 300 Squats.

The Transition

We performed an Indian Run around the parking lot of Falling Springs. It was topped off by OG calling Duggar a jerk for sprinting away when it was OG’s turn to sprint to front. Ha.

Feel the Burn

OG led the men of F3 over to the pavilion where they found them selves close to a stage/wall. Staying in pairs we performed 2 different exercises in unison … on OG’s count.

10 Merikans/10 Wall Dips

9 Merikans/9 Wall Dips

8 Merikans/8 Wall Dips

7 Hi/Lo Planks/7 Step Ups

6 Hi/Lo Planks/7 Step Ups

5 Inclined Merikans/Hold High Plank

4 Inclined Merikans/ Hold Low Plank

3, 2, 1 … As a group we performed Declined Merikans.

CoT:

We finished up with a Name-o-Rama and CoT.

Was a great workout with a great group of HIMs. I was super proud of the effort and support. Look forward to being able to reach more ppl in the area with this AO.

Date: 9/19

Time: 5:30-6:30

Location: Paddock (masterson)

Q: White Wall

Pax: Lincoln Log, OG, Duggar, Chesty and White Wall (Q)

As is our running Wednesday….we came, we stretched, we ran then we conquered!

After just a few weeks the pace is getting stronger, the feeling is getting better and we are growing. Full minute faster in pace for all of us. We finished with a sprint uphill to really drive it home.

Finished with some quick F2 and touched on upcoming events then off to the next grind!

CoT

Date: 09/18/18

Time: 5:30 – 6:30a

Location: Gridlock (Shillito Park)

Q: Lincoln Log

PAX: Ooze, Incognito, Oshag, Duggar, Yanni, Sous Vide and Lincoln Log (Q). Opera Ghost (OG) was not there.

No FNGs

Introduction:

It was a nice, clear morning; just a bit of fog. Stark contrast to the morning prior. We gave it an extra minute to see if any straggling PAX would roll in; i.e. OG, who was a HC the night before. Alas, he remained home in the fartsack.

We couldn’t wait any longer, so we kicked off a Count-o-Rama and Name-o-Rama, and YHC laid out the disclaimer. Following, we moseyed over to the upper middle tennis court and circled up.

Warm-O-Rama:

• 20 SSH (IC)
• 10 Alternating Shoulder Touches (IC)
• 15 Imperial Walkers (IC)
• 15 Copperhead Skwats (IC)
• 15 Abe Vigodas (IC)

We recovered and sauntered (that’s right, you thought I was gonna say moseyed) down the steps and to the lower tennis courts. We split up and lined up between 2 courts in the middle; one group headed down the courts one direction, and the other group headed the opposite.

Tha Thang: ALARMs (Arms, Legs, Abs, R exercise, M exercise)

ALARM 1 – 6 min duration – OYO AMRAP

• 5 Burpees
• Lunge down 2 courts
• 10 LBC
• Run – Sprint back
• 4 Morning Woods (weightless Turkish Get-ups)

ALARM 2 – 6 min duration – OYO AMRAP

• 15 Overhead Claps
• Broad Jump down 2 courts
• 5 BBS
• Run – Karaoke back
• 5 Merkins

ALARM 3 – 6 min duration – OYO AMRAP

• 10 Alternating Shoulder Touches (5 ea side)
• Side Lunges down 2 courts
• 10 Gas Pumps
• Run back Backwards
• 10 Mountain Climbers

ALARM 4 – 6 min duration – OYO AMRAP

• 5 Dive Bombers
• Duck Walk or Gate Step (hip flexors) down 2 courts
• 10 Peter Parkers
• Run – Sprint back
• 5 Mexican Skwats

The ALARMs were done in succession, only taking time in between to describe the next set of movements.

After the ALARMs stopped going off, we moseyed back up to the upper tennis courts. Here we circled up one final time for some Mary.

Mary:

• 10 Dolly’s
• 10 American Hammers
• 10 Flutter Kicks
• 10 Little Baby Crunch with Bicycle Kick Things (LBCBKTs?)
• Plank Hold for 60 sec Count around the circle (Duggar almost lost his life for pausing on the count too long)

We recovered, did Count-o-Rama & Name-o-Rama, and rendezvous’d back at the flag.

CoT

Date:     8/6/18

Time:    5:30-6:30

Location:     Masterson Station Park

Q:     White Wall

PAX:     Lincoln Log, Opera Ghost (The OG), Duggar and White Wall (Q)

No FNGs

Introduction

Well you know it’s gonna be a good day when @ 5:30 a.m. it feels like a hot swamp outside.  What better to do then to get up and run…..a bunch.  When the question was posed 2 days prior, “who wants to Q a running WO on Thursday?” I think hey, I’m a terrible runner even at a short distance so let’s Q a WO that makes my legs want to fall off.  So having never Q’d a WO I say sure I got this!  So we decided to try a new AO and since it’s a run, we should find the biggest, longest hills possible.  So we did.

Warm up

12 Side Straddle Hops (why 12 you ask…cause my brain doesn’t function @ 5:30 and my first run at cadence confused it)

10 Body builders (new movement for me, basically a burpee with a kick jack after the merkin)

Some high knees and hamstring stretches

Workout

Well…..we ran….a bunch.  Got some good F2 time in on a old man pace.  3.6 miles in total.  I decided that since the distance was a bit longer that I would save the bootcamp stops for another day.  Judging by the soreness later in the day…I think it was a good call.  This AO doesn’t have a flat spot anywhere so there were some long grinding hills. Had a great morning with great brothers hitting the grind.  Unfortunately the Masterson splash pad seems to be on a timer (sorry Lincoln Log on over promising) and wasn’t ready for the early birds.  We were looking forward to a solid cool down but guess I just need to figure out what city worker has that area and headlock him!

Had a good talk after about just how important F3 is to me and what it means to put energy into something so much larger than myself.  Also hopefully planted the seed for getting a Speed for Need event going here in the Bluegrass (thanks Gypsy!!)

Date: 08/04/18

Time: 5:30 – 6:30a

Location: Shillito Park

Q: Lincoln Log

PAX: Whitewall, Ooze, Zebra, Duggar, Triceratops and Lincoln Log (Q)

No FNGs

Introduction:

It was an especially early morning for YHC, due to poor life decisions that resulted in staying up half the night before assembling bedroom furniture for my daughters, after agreeing to make a trip to Ikea over the holiday weekend. But there was a job to be done and a beatdown to be lead. So I forced myself out of the fartsack and got to Shillito at 5:15a to scout potential pull-up locations and to get the speaker I stashed in my ruck the night before paired with my phone and ready to play. More on that later.

5:30a arrives, along with the 5 other PAX, and YHC wastes no time getting into the warmup. No need for disclaimers or rhetoric, it was too early and the PAX knew what they were there for. We moseyed to the closest tennis court and circled up.

BTW and big shout out to Roadtrip; he got up and drove out to the park to plant the flag for us, even though he was hurting from the beatdown the day before and wasn’t going to be able to WO with us.

Warm-O-Rama:

Side Straddle Hops – IC: 20

Abe Vigodas – IC: 15

Imperial Walkers – IC: 15

This was good exercise setup and cadence counting practice for YHC, as I stumbled through the whole thing.

Musical Interlude:

Next, YHC explained the following movements without context, to be done while holding the plank position:

Slide to the left/right – move left or right

Back up – walk hands toward feet one step and then back out

Clap your hands – alternating shoulder touches

Left/right foot – extend left/right foot out and tap your toe on the ground

Hop – jump both feet up towards your hands and back out

Cha-cha – mountain climbers

… At this point I walked to my ruck laying in the center of the circle, pulled out my phone and hit play. It all made sense once Mr. C The Slide Man said “We’re gonna get funky!” We performed the movements to the Cha Cha Slide for about 3 minutes before the triceps were screaming and I killed the music knowing what we had in store.

We recovered and started on a 0.5mi mosey to the playground, where I had hinted earlier we’d be doing pull-ups.

A little background.. YHC got roped into doing the Q because in response to someone asking if we’d do Murph again today, I replied with a firm “No”. At which point Zebra said it sounded like I needed to Q. (Zebra has his VQ this coming Saturday… not sure how that happened 😄). Sooo, I stuck to my guns, no Murph today. However, Murph has a not-so-little sister, Cindy. No weight or runs (we ran anyways), but you still end up doing 100 pull-ups, 200 Merkins and 300 squats.

Cindy

20 rounds – OYO

5 pull-ups

10 Merkins

15 squats

We made it through 15 rounds before running out of time and needing to mosey back.

I discussed what F3 means to me, personally. This sparked discussion of how to continue to grow the group, which led to Duggar and Whitewall initiating a run WO. The date was set for Thursday and Whitewall stepped up to Q.

Name-o-Rama

CoT

September 1st
Well, my first VQ went well. We had a total of 21, including 3 FNG’S. I gave the disclaimer late (thanks HanZandFranz) but lived it out. The group really came together to support my first time!

Worm-O-Rama
We started with 16 Side Straddle Hops.
16 Abe Vigoda, which I mistakenly called Imperial Walkers and have no idea why…….cough…..OG……Cough cough.
Then we moseyed to the basketball courts taking a nice .75ish mile roundabout way to get there.

The THANG
At the basketball courts we lined up on the baseline and got into pairs to do buddy carries to the end of the court, switch, and buddy carry your partner back. Seeing Custer (a FNG) who is 6’5 being carried by beeper who is…….not 6’5……….. was a sight to behold. At one point, while Custer was being carried his feet were dragging on the court! Well done beeper, not many of us could have pushed through that!
Then we bear crawled down and back.
To finish up on the courts we paired back up to Wheelbarrow down, switch, and Wheelbarrow back.
Mosey to football field where we counted off in groups of 4.
We had 6 different excersizes set up. Hand released Merkins, LBC’s, Mountain Climbers, Planks, Squats (with coupons), and Curls (with coupons). Two people would perform their assigned exercise while the other two ran approx. 50 yards and back. We repeated this process for 4 minutes and then rotated groups. In between the rotation of the groups, guys took that moment to share what F3 means to them. I was greatly impacted by this time.
Then we took a mossy to where it all began.
We ended with a fun game of 21 and completed on one try. I did hear through the grapevine that Mr. Hand did not stop on time and made it past me!

CoT
Count-O-Rama – Stapler, Count Chocula, Beeper, Mr. Hand, Zebra, Ollie, Oshag, Duggar, Kisses, Roadtrip, Mutton Chops, HanzandFranz, Pitstop, Waffels, Hertz, Lincoln Log, and OG
Name-O-Rama We names the FNG’s Custer, Triceratops, and Chesty
We had a great circle of trust and we are building an unbreakable bond between us.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.[a]
Proverbs 3:5-6

Our ride on the Pain Train was one of success, suffering and sweat.  HanzandFranz was the conductor and he worked to bring variety, constant movement and encouragement.

Q: HanzandFranz

PAX: 24 including one FNG. We circled up, welcomed the group and offered up the safety brief and disclaimer.

Count-O-Rama:  24

Warm-A-Rama: The Pax did a active dynamic warm up.  We stretched and move some items that hadn’t been moved in a while.

Pain Train:

1st Stop: steps at the shelter.  This was no picnic as we did 30 step ups on each leg.

2nd Stop: straight leg sit ups. We stopped at the first open area we came to, circled up, got on our backs and did old skool sit ups that our granddad’s may have done.

3rd Stop: step overs:  Thank you Parks and Rec for placing a guardrail so strategically in our path.  We did 3 minutes of step overs and could feel the burn and hear the fatigue setting in.

4th Stop:  hand release Mericans.  We stopped in an open field, dropped down on the ground and started pushing them out.  It was great to hear the men sound off with vigor regardless of their fatigue levels.

5th Stop:  Basketball Court for line drills.  We sprinted to half court then backpedaled, then sprinted full court followed by a backpedal.  We did this 5 times and were all fairly reassured that our sprints and backpedals had seen better days.

6th Stop:  Hill Bear crawls.  I apologize for not researching my F3 lingo to properly describe a bear crawl but nonetheless we got after it.  We climbed a respectable hill and it looked like the Pax was being taxed the proper amount.

7th Stop:  Body weight squats and bench dips.  How many uses can one group have for picnic tables that don’t involve tasty food?  I believe that we are just scratching the surface.  We paired up and did 100 dips and 100 body weight squats between the pair.  From here we moseied over to our Flag to complete the day.

Name-A-Rama: Stapler, Hair Ball, Mr. Hand, Incognito, Road Trip, Ooze, Oshag, Barney Fife, Dugger, White Wall, Hertz, OG, Lincoln Log, Beeper, Kisses, Sous Vide, Zebra, Yanni, Wolverine, Count Chocula, Radio, FNG – Danny Steckler

FNG- Danny Steckler – 43 – Sparkles

COT:  Great time of reflection, prayer and intentions

Join Bourbon from F3 Toledo and the rest of the men from F3 Lexington to do a little partying Saturday August 25th at Shillito Park, 7-8 AM.

Nobody knows what is coming, show up with your birthday and enjoy the party!

This workout/beatdown is designed for ALL fitness levels.  Young and old, fit and not so fit.  Nobody will feel left behind or like they are holding anything back.  Come out, bring a friend or three and enjoy the festivities!

For those who want a little extra, Bourbon will be doing a ruck around the park starting at 6 AM and ending by 6:45 AM.  Feel free to join him to help get the miles in under the ruck preparing for the GoRuck Star Course challenge.

SYITG (See You In The Gloom),

– Bourbon

Saturday was a great morning for social hour. 12 men, 6 cinder blocks, one 60# ruck buddy, a freshly downed log, a fire hose, and 1.5 miles with workouts on the 1/4 mile. The highlight of the day was finally busting through the burpee punctuated nameorama!

3 FNGs – Incognito, Wolverine, Mutton Chops
9 Pax – My Boy Blue, Ooze, Zebra, Dugger, Roadtrip, Gypsy, Liberachi, White Wall, Hertz

Great effort from Flexington this Saturday.  We worked hard, encouraged each other and continued to forge our bond.

VQ: HanzandFranz and his Weinke

PAX: 14 including one FNG. We circled up, welcomed the group and offered up the safety brief and disclaimer.

Count-O-Rama:  14

Warm-A-Rama: The Pax learned about the value and power of cadence.  We discussed it historical nature as it is a call to work and action of men.  We performed our workout with enthusiasm and vigor doing  the following exercises: 15 Abe Vigoda – IC, 15 Side Straddle Hops – IC, 15 Grass Grabbers – IC, 15 Imperial Walkers – IC.

Thang 1: We ran as a group to the hill were things went “LEFT” very quickly.  We paired up and did a super set with Bernie Sanders and Al Gore.  7 rounds and did we ever feel the “BERN!!”

Thang 2:  We gambled by going to the football field for a little Black Jack.  We paired “Mericans” and LBCs.  We moved up with Mericans and moved down with LBCs.  Due to time restraints, we did as much as possible in 12 minutes.

Thang 3:  We then laddered up to 10 with Bobby Hurley.  We used the 15 yard high shuffle as our active recovery between sets.

Name-A-Rama: Dugger, Road Trip, Barney Fife, Stapler, Disconnect, Kisses, Father Teresa, Boy Blue, Zebra, Ooze, Sous Vide, Lincoln Log, HanzandFranz, FNG

Samuel Martin – 18 – Liberace

COT:  Great time of reflection, prayer and intentions.

After a lot of waiting and building excitement it was finally the day to go and help get Flexington started. I woke up a little earlier than I needed to as I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time and could pick up my brother in law, Buford T. Unfortunately, he ended up having to stay until about 4am at my nephews project graduation and then text me at 5am to let me know he wasn’t going to be able to make it. With that scratched off the to-do list I went ahead and loaded the truck with some pallets and got on my way solo. I arrived at Shilito Park in plenty of time to scope the area, set the pallets and also get in a short pre run. While scouting I found the football field first and went ahead and set out the cones for the beat down finisher and then found a small parking lot that had the perfect amount of space for six pallets, note that this parking lot was on a hill side and elevation was not something that I factored into the beat down.  After that I took a nice stroll through the park getting in about 2 miles and still having about 15 minutes before the workout began. When I got back, to my surprise there was no one at the starting point which I thought was odd, I gave it a minute or two and then I knew something wasn’t right. I jumped in the truck and went to the “other” entrance of the park to find a group of about 12 PAX wondering where this guest Q was and why he wasn’t early given that he had never been there before, sorry guys! After arriving at the correct location PAX continued to poor in eventually topping out at 26. Opera Ghost (OG), Captain Insane-o and I made a quick trip to check out the other coupons that were brought by OG. When counting the coupons and then recounting the PAX I had to do a few modifications to the Q, having too many PAX and not enough coupons is a problem that I would love to have every day. At this time I also made the announcement that I had parked in the back of the park initially and unload some additional coupons near there, meaning that there may be a little more running than expected. I didn’t tell them that we would be carrying the concrete blocks that OG brought with us to the other coupons until we completed the warm up, you are already committed at that point and don’t get as mad about it.

One minute warming given

Lengthier than normal disclaimer given (I received strange looks from most of the FNGs)

Time!

25-SSH IC

5-Body Builders OYO

15-Imperial Walkers IC

15-Hillbilies IC

15-Windmills IC

Mosey to the Coupons, we had 19 coupons and 26 PAX and we had about a .6 mile trek ahead of us so I asked everyone to take turns carrying the blocks. PAX grabbed the blocks and we took off. Did I mention that there was elevation changes at this park already……. As a 4 year flat lander now, this was tough carrying the block up a hill.

As we approached the little parking lot with the pallets the group had been spread out a little bit so some of us held plank while others picked up the six.

I gave an explanation of what we would be doing and ask the group to count off to split us, one’s going to the blocks and two’s going to the pallets.

We would be using the blocks for the super loop and the super loop group would be the time keeper for both exercises. Once the super sevens and the lap (loop) of the Super Loop were completed the group pushing the pallets would head to the super loop and vice versa. For the pallet push (Which was absolutely miserable) we broke up into partners and both partners stayed on the same end, partner one pushed the pallet like a sled up the parking lot and back down while the other partner preformed a recovery exercise (AMRAP style) then they switched back and forth until the Super Loop group was done. So about that elevation and pushing pallets uphill……….. that was about as miserable of an exercise as I have done in a while. Each partner average about 4-8 up and backs with the pallets. If I am not mistaken I believe there were a couple of Merlots that were a result of the pallet pushes.

Each group completed the following sequence.

Super 7s- Blockees and Bent over Rows

Lap

Pallet Push AMRAP and Recovery Exercises

Super 7s-Curls and High Pull/Upright Row

Lap

Pallet Push AMRAP and Recovery Exercises

Super 7s-Shoulder Press and Merkins

Lap

Pallet Push AMRAP and Recovery Exercises

After completing this circuit the PAX were happy to leave the blocks in place and mosey back toward the football field. One of my new favorite exercise routines is a sprint workout that involves marking off every 10 yards on a football field (100 yards total). The routine is supposed to be as shown below but we didn’t have enough time so I cut it short with 30yrd 3 burpees, 40yrd 4 burpees and 90 yrd 9 burpees.

1. 10yd Sprint 90yd Mosey
   1.          1 Burpee
2. 20yd Sprint 80yd Mosey
   1.          2 Burpees
3. 30yd Sprint 70yd Mosey
   1.          3 Burpees
4. 40yd Sprint 60yd Mosey
   1.          4 Burpees
5. 50yd Sprint 50yd Mosey
   1.          5 Burpees
6. 60yd Sprint 40yd Mosey
   1.          6 Burpees
7. 70yd Sprint 30yd Mosey
   1.          7 Burpees
8. 80yd Sprint 20yd Mosey
   1.          8 burpees
9. 90yd Sprint 10yd Mosey
   1.          9 Burpees
10. 100yd Sprint
    1.          10 Burpees

After completing that we made our way back to the starting point and circled up as we were out of time. We did Name o Rama, announcements, named 6 FNGs and I prayed us out for the group.

It was an absolute pleasure getting to come home to Kentucky and participate in the launch of what will certainly be a great region. I am happy that I was able to spread a little bit of what we do here in the grand strand to the guys in both Lexington and Louisville. Every person at the AO pushed through what was an extremely difficult workout and it was a great effort by all. I will see all you boys in November when I return and hopefully I will see one or two down here at a Beach AO this summer. You showed me yours so its only fair if I get to show you mine!

Somewhere between 8-12 PAX enjoyed coffeteria after the beat down at North Lime Coffee and Donuts.

QIC: Gepetto, Backdraft

PAX (21 – 8 FNG’s): Barney Fife, Biscuit, Lincoln Log, Radio, Kisses (FNG), Opera Ghost, Gamby, Suvee, Mr.Hand (FNG), Ollie, Hans & Franz, Ooze, Waco Kid (FNG), Stop, Drop, & Roll (Chapel Hill), White Wall (FNG), Dugger, Odor Eater (FNG), D3 (FNG), Road Trip, Newt (FNG), Sunbird (FNG)

When Gepetto and I began our journey to FLEXington yesterday, we had no idea that we would be graced with the presence of a couple of Hollywood icons from the 70’s and 80’s. No one knew they were even in our presence, including them. During Name O’ Rama though, it was revealed that both Mr. Hand, Jeff Spicoli’s history teacher from Ridgemont High and the Waco Kid from Blazing Saddles had been with us through our entire Coupon beatdown. We were glad to have them along with 6 other FNG’s, one visiting Pax from Chapel Hill (Booo 😉), and the 13 HIM’s who were back for a 2^nd or 3^rd week of F3 love.

Now as some of you know, I LOVE the Coupon. I know I don’t look the part but the Coupon and I have a special relationship. I love the rough feel in my gloved hands (give me a break I have sensitive palms), the feeling of it digging into my shoulder, and how it bounces up and down while I am…..HEY! Get your minds out of the gutter! I was going to say bounces up and down while I run with it on my shoulder, ya freaking pervo’s! Anyway, I do like working out with them. Gepetto had the great idea to gift some Coupons to our good friends from FLEXington. Gepetto being a true HIM was good enough to order and pick them up on Friday afternoon. We met up and along with Gepetto’s 2.0, Elmer, we painted the F3 logo on them and loaded them into his pickup truck.

My alarm went off at 4:50 am & as I am laying there questioning my sanity, Gepetto texts me at 4:52 saying he couldn’t sleep and asking if I was ready. Guess I am getting up now. He pulls up 10 minutes later and we were off. I must say, Shillito Park is one of the most versatile AO’s I have had the pleasure of visiting. The possibilities there are unlimited and I look forward to getting back soon. We set the Coupon pyramid out, secured the Ring of Fire, and we were ready to roll! What is the Ring of Fire you ask? Read On…

COP: Side Straddle Hops, Imperial Walkers, Grass Grabbers, Downward dog leg/calf stretches, Cobra (back stretch).

Mosey: After the COP, the Pax took off on a little ½ mile warm up mosey led by YHC. I had the pleasure of running with Stop, Drop, and Roll, a visiting PAX from Chapel Hill. Great guy, loved how he got his F3 name. Ask him when he visits next time.  We were greeted at the end of the mosey by the Coupon pyramid on the side of the football field.

Thang 1: Ring of Fire – 20 different exercise stations shaped in a circle. Ten stations were Coupon related; Coupon Squats, Coupon Thrusters, Coupon Swings, American Hammer w/ Coupon, Hand Over Hand Coupon Merkins, Coupon (x2) Standing Farmers Walk, 2 Handed Coupon Shoulder Raises, Coupon Rows, Coupon Dead Lifts, Kneeling Coupon Press, and 10 non- Coupon exercises; Burpee’s, Plank, Heels to Heaven (Hip Lifts), Lunges, Rosalitas, Gas Pumps, Jump Squats, Freddie Mercuries, Big Boy Sit Up, & Al Gores. Each Pax member finds a station to start with, several of the stations had 2 Pax members due to Pax size. 45 seconds on at each station and 15 seconds off to move to the next station & rest. Each Pax member circles the Ring of Fire to complete all 20 stations.

Thang 2: Hill Run with 200 Coupon Curls – We made our way over to the hill on the side of the football field with the Coupons. The Pax Partnered up; Partner 1 began curling with the Coupon while Partner 2 runs to the bottom of the hill and back to the top. Partners switch up, Partner 2 takes over Coupon curls while Partner 1 runs to the bottom of the hill and back to the top. Rinse and repeat until 200 Coupon curls total are completed between the partners.

Thang 3: F3 Ultimate Football – Divide up into even number team’s, shirts and skins, to play ultimate football. No more than 3 steps taken until ball must be passed off to a teammate. If the ball hits the ground both teams drop for 2 burpee’s. I might add, Gepetto divided us up and made our team skins which I contend was a dick move. However, the skins ruled the day with 3 scores to the shirts 1, so suck it Gepetto!   ;P

Coupons were carried back to the flags in the parking lot for COT

COT: Intentions were heard and thanks was given for allowing us all the ability to come together and be healthy enough to be out there getting better. I am looking forward to the next time and good luck to the HIM’s of FLEXington! You guys are going to continue to crush it! Backdraft out.

QIC: Red Roof & Nugget (DR Louisville Pax)

Pax (22 – 4 FNG’s): Road Trip, Bucky, Gamby, Cutlass (Louisville), Seabass (Louisville), Gepetto (Louisville), Lincoln Log, Barney Fife, Valdeez, Biscuit, Radio, Zartan (Louisville), Red Roof (Louisville), Nugget (Louisville), Ooze, Hans&Franz, Opera Ghost, Suvee, Belsky (FNG), Ollie (FNG), Beeper (FNG), Dugger (FNG)

My 0445 alarm may as well have been a bull horn.  Early mornings in the gloom are one thing during the week but Saturdays are an entirely different story.  On Fridays I usually hit the streets with the Live PD guys and lose track of time.  Anyway, I woke up quick and shook the cobwebs out, then I remembered why I was getting up so early…..we get to clown car down to Lexington to meet up with some local HIMs and help launch F3 Lexington!

Introducing FNG’s to F3 is, hands down, one of my favorite things to do:  The look of confusion on their faces with the Lexicon during COP, the despair in their eyes the first time you tell them to get on their six in the soaking wet grass, and finally the moment it all clicks for them as to how cool F3 really is.

Like I was saying I was really excited about this.  I put on my shirt, shorts (not always a given as I will explain later), and my shoes and I was on my way to Le Mutt to meet other pax for the Clown Car to Lex.  HIMs Zartan, Gepetto, Nugget, and Seabass were all ready to go.  BTW Seabass turned 14 on Saturday and T-claps to him for getting out of bed to workout with a bunch of old (relatively) men!

After the car ride down we made it to beautiful Shillito Park.  I’ve been to a lot of AO’s and walking around Shillito, this one has it all:  Tennis courts, hills, football fields, basketball courts, dudes with no pants on, and…..oh yeah about that.  As YHC, Nugget, Seabass, Gepetto, and Zartan learned you never know what you might find at a public park at 0645 on a Saturday morning.

As we’re walking to the tennis courts checking out the beautiful facilities we spotted a man standing in the doorway with his hands on his hips.  No big deal, looks like an FNG didn’t know where the shovel flag was and thought that was the meetup spot.  Wait,  That’s no FNG, this dude ain’t wearing pants!!!  As we start to process what we’re seeing the man also spots us walking towards him and bolts in his t-shirt and undies  never to be seen again.  Who knows where he went?  Maybe he watched us from afar and will post next week?  Maybe he found his other pants-less friends somewhere and wrote a back blast about how weird it was seeing a bunch of fully clothed people at Shillito?  I don’t know but I’m glad Seabass wasn’t 13 when he had to see that.

I digress…

Disclaimer:  YHC is not a professional, I’m barely an ameteur, modifiy as you need to etc., etc.

YHC handed the keys to Nugget and we moseyed to the big field for COP.

COP (Circle of Pain):

Copperhead Squats (x20)

Imperial Walkers (x20)

Arm Circles (front and back)

Abe Begodas (x20)

Mosey to the tennis courts for the Thang:

Thang #1:  700 Club

Break into groups of four.  Start at the middle of the eight tennis courts and do the following:

200 Merkins as a group then run to the first court for 5 BOYOs (Burpees on your own) and back to the middle.

200 LBCs (Little baby crunches) as a group then run to the second court for 5 BOYOs (Burpees on your own) and back to the middle.

200 Squats as a group then run to the third court for 5 BOYOs (Burpees on your own) and back to the middle.

Once you’re back in the middle do five more BOYO’s and plank while you wait for the six.

Next, we moseyed back over the field to the steep little hill between our flag and the field for Thang #2

Thang #2:  7’s

1 Bobby Hurley (Our favorite little Duke floor slapper) and run down for 6 Groiners at the bottom

2 BH’s and 5 Groiners

3 BH’s and 4 Groiners

Repeat etc., etc.

Cooled down with some quick Mary exercises then on to the next Thang.

Thang #3: 

Next we lined up on the football field at the end set of cones.

Bear Crawl to the first set of cones, mosey back.

Bear crawl to first cones, crab walk to the second set, mosey back.

Bear crawl, crab walk, then crawl bear to the third set, mosey back.

After that we walked it back down the ladder, bear crawl & crab walk, then just bear crawl.

Finally: AYG (All you got) to the last cones and back, Bernie sanders up and mosey back, karaoke up and also back, mario up and back.

Back to the flag for COT.

COT (Circle of Trust):

Once there the pax did 14 BOYOs for Seabass 14th birthday.  HBD Seabass!

Intentions and prayers were heard.  We asked for strength and determination to be better men for everyone around us and also to ourselves.

Moleskin:  It was a really great meeting this group of HIM’s from FLEXington.  I have no doubt that this pax will be strong and vibrant for many workouts to come.  F3 continues to inspire me every day to be a better person and I couldn’t do it without my brothers standing behind me.

~Red Roof