Author: Jake Smith

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The 40 Gifts That Keep On Giving

25 HIM converged to celebrate YHC impending birthday. Much to the chagrin of those from the Shire who made the trek that the official day wasn’t until Monday, I assure you that today was the day we celebrated.

Conditions: Lil muggy, but overall great.

Q: T-Cell

PAX: Vector, Trapper Keeper, Firefox, Hambone, Dinty Moore, Crablegs, Sal Pal, Duplex, BnB, High Viz, Pumpkin Spice, Bad Boy, RiverDawg, Toothless, Boyband, Floppy Disk, Black Lung, CCR, DMish, Covenant Eyes, CAPSLOCK, Juan Valdez, Princess Aurora, and FNG Hurl Mary.

The Thang:

COP at top of the hill. 40 SSH, 10 Good Mornings, 25 Little Baby Arm Circles, 10 Willie Mays Hays while holding arms out, and then 20 Merkins.

Mosey down to the main parking lot where we cranked The King (George Strait) and started opening gifts.  A PAX was able to open one gift. Below is not the order we pulled, but here is what was completed:

2 Trips Up Hill – Weekend at Bernies
4 Sprints
6 X10 plank hold
7 Sevens – Squats/Merkins
8 Eight Count Body Builers IC
10 Manmakers
14 Decline Merkins
16 Parking Lot Spaces Crab Walk
18 Caroline Dry Docks
19 Lt. Dans
20 Burpees
21 Crunchy Frogs
23 Flutter Kicks
24 Big Boy Situps
25 Side Straddle Hops
29 Dips
32 Plank Jacks
35 Crunches
37 Calf Raises
39 Side Straddle Hops
40 Merkins

Great leading you guys this morning. You’ve made trips 35-40 around the sun very special. Grateful for each of you. And in case you were wondering, below is what we didn’t get to. Will save them for 41.

Unfinished Business: 

1 Crawl Bear Up Hill
3 Laps around the Community Center
5 Bear Crawl trips around roundabout
8 Eight Count Body Builers IC
9 Swerkins
11 Bobby Hurley’s (squat, slap, shot)
12 Wide Arm Merkins
13 Diamond Merkins
15 Pull-Ups (plank when waiting on bar)
17 Box Jumps
26 Lunges
22 V-Ups
27 Hello Dolly’s
28 Squats
30 Bulgarian Split Squats
31 Gorilla Humpers
32 Plank Jacks
34 Little Baby Crunches
36 Mountain Climbers

 

 

 

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Shop Till You Drop aka Ship Till You Drip

QIC– T-Cell

PAX- Big Stick, Foxtrot, Too Tall, Pop a Lock, Backlash, Boone’s Farm, Lumberg, Yoga, Tampa Libra, Olan Mills, Vera Wang, Double Check, Umbrella, Offshore

Conditions: Cold. But above 30. Anything above 30 is fine. Shorts weather.

Quick mosey to the top of the garage for some COP.  Upon arrival, Big Stick and FTTAL came dashing through the door. Quick COP – SSH X 20, GM X 20, Willie Mays Hays X 20, Merkins X 10, Little Baby AC X 20.

Mosey back down. At that point we were joined by 3 additional PAX for the main event.

The Thang:

Shopping along the commerce route in the newly renovated shopping area was the theme.  Before any Christmas, need to get your bank in order. There was a 25 burpee buy-in at the ATM to start.

The circuit then consisted with a set of 25 salad squats at Chopt, mosey down to Puffy Muffin for a mid-shopping snack and worked it off with 25 WWI sit-up., picked up some boxes at FedEX with 25 box jumps (step up modification for some, high wall), and we finished the shopping with 25 Mountain Climbers at REI. Like any good shopping experience, we needed to make a lap through the parking lot, so we looped up and around after the circuit.

The next round was a rinse and repeat, but some items were returned. So we skipped the Salad Squats and proceeded with previous route. Same thing next round minus WWI, and so on until all items were returned. For the sake of time, we did take an Uber on the last trip and saved ourselves the parking lot nightmare.

Some quick Mary while the PAX completed and then a mosey back to the start.

Bullhorn: Great to have so many opps to give back during this season. See below for just a few. A great reminder that this is MORE than a workout group. 

  1. Let’s make Friday’s Leadership Luncheon on a priority. Tclaps to Umbrella for arranging. Should be a great day. Don’t let cost be a prohibitive factor and please invite non-F3 guys who may be interested. Info on Slack.
  2. Tampa Libra is collecting toys for YES. Great ministry and gives back to inner city kids. See Slack or Tampa for info. Decision was made that anyone who didn’t bring a toy by next week would have 10 burpee penalty. Info on Slack or see Tampa.
  3. Bagger and PA are involved in an event on Monday at the Rescue Mission in which mentors/sons are needed for gift giving at the Nashville Rescue Mission. At last glance, needed 3 more men. Info on Slack or see Tampa.

 

 

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Your layering offends me.

Conditions: Cool, but no cold. 41 I believe. We had some heavy layering from the Pax at the start. Was determined to get those clothes off.

Q: T-Cell

Pax: Cowboy, En Fuego, Venus, Moneyshot

Mosey around the track and pack to the parking lot for COP. All in cadence. SSHx25, Good Morningsx10, Willie Mays HaysX10, Squatsx20, MerkinsX10, Little Tiny Baby Arm Circles and Butt Claps (Venus’s words, not mine)x25.

Headed down for some parking space shuffle. First iteration up was after tracing the parking space was 1 burpee. Back to the start to rinse and repeat for 1 burpee and 2 squats. Back to the start to rinse and repeat for 1 burpee, 2 squats, and 3 merkins.

Mosey back around the track and up to the carpool lane for some DID’s. Topic of discussion was both Head Stud and Venus’s brush, or gashes, with the concrete wall. Consensus was that the fact that Venus needed stitches made his a bit more badass.

Back to the parking lot for another round. This time it was 4 jump squats and 5 SSH.

Finished off the morning with 3 sprints and some Mary.

By the time it was all done. Clothes, plural, were shed. That’s all I wanted.

Bullhorn:

Great morning at the Skunk. Glad we had a much bigger group than last week 🙂 Excited to be a part of this group on a regular basis and looking forward to the many beatdowns to come, both given and received.

First Friday lunch at Cookery this week. I’d encourage you to make this a priority if your schedule allows. Great fellowship with pax you don’t always get to see.

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Resume Virtues vs Eulogy Virtues

As I was reading an obituary today, I reminded that I still haven’t seen “proficient at Excel”, “knew his way around a CRM” or “put together one of the best P&L sheets I’ve ever seen” in an obituary byline. Obituaries are saved for things that we really remember people for. What was the difference they made? How did they serve? How did they take care of those in their care?

As a leader, what are you focusing on today in terms of what you will be remembered by? How will you make a difference, even if it’s small, in the life of someone today? How will you make people feel today that are under your care? How will you find a way to serve those that you are leading?

This is not to say that as a manager or a leader, you shouldn’t be expecting the very best out of people in terms of their expectations or behaviors. But are you expecting the best because of how it reflects on you OR are you expecting the best because you can help someone achieve their goals?

The author David Brooks has an article that explores just this topic. The résumé virtues are the skills you bring to the marketplace. The eulogy virtues are the ones that are talked about at your funeral — whether you were kind, brave, honest or faithful. Were you capable of deep love?

As a leader, I’d invite you to read this article today and think about how you can better cultivate eulogy virtues.

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“How’s Your Heart?”

How’s Your Heart and Leadership

I know. Men don’t typically ask that question. It’s usually saved for the girls over tea at the Puffy Muffin. However, I think when asked from a man to another man, it shows true leadership.

I’m (T-Cell) in the midst of a job transition. And my fellow job-transitioner, Bagger Vance, called me last week to ask me this question. His first question wasn’t, “What the heck are you going to do next?” or giving me advice on what I should or shouldn’t be doing during this time, it was simply, how are you doing? And not a “don’t answer fine”, but really doing.

This was a tough question for two reasons. First, as men, we typically leave the heart stuff to women and we don’t let ourselves go deep with other men. By Sims asking me the question, he becomes implicated. He can’t dissociate from the outcome of the question. If my answer is, “I’m hurting man. I need help”, Sims has to act. This question from Sims showed true leadership. Sims knew that there could be implications from his asking and he wasn’t afraid of the challenge that may await on the other side of my answer.

Second, it’s a tough question for me. When he asked, I was just a day into not having an office to go into and we were moving, so things were still “busy”. And truly, I had not had time to process the change. However, as days would pass and the busyness subsides, my “new normal” changes. Am I anxious? Nervous? Fearful? Depressed? Because Sims asked this question, I now have to be cognizant of my feelings and address them. I can’t hide or medicate. A leader asks questions of other’s that contribute to the flourishing of others.

What did I learn or what lessons were affirmed through Sim’s question?

Leaders care about someone else’s flourishing more than their own.

Leaders ask hard questions.

Leaders aren’t afraid to step into hard situations.

Leaders care.

Leaders listen.

I’m grateful for a friend like Sims and his leadership in my own life and the lives of those in F3.

How can you exhibit these traits of a leader in your interactions today? 

 

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T-Cell Racetrack VQ

Conditions: Dark, Humid.

QIC: T-Cell

Pax: Bagger Vance, Black Widow, Umbrella, Olan Mills, Life Champ, Joey Freshwater, Offshore, Cinderella, Old Hickory.

The Thang:

Excited to lead my first time at The Racetrack. Since this has become my new “normal”, I’ve loved getting to know this Pax and this AO. Lot’s of goodies. After a quick disclaimer in which BV reminded me I was not a professional, off we went.

Mosey to the top of the garage with the instructions to hit every step on the way up. I’m convinced they added extra stairs in this garage because it’s WilCo and they could spend the money. Mercy. Home base would be the top of the garage for the first session.

COP – SSH X 20, Willie Mays Hays X 10, Merkins X 10, Mtn. Climbers X 20, Good Mornings X10, Little Baby Arm Circles X 20.

Started with some parking lot shuffle. Ran up the line, shuffle across, reverse down with a burpee at the bottom. Repeat for about 20 or so parking spots. Upon completion, we did this again but with broad jumps up the line.

Headed back down the stairs and over to the Hub. Excited to knock out some DID’s with this group. Black Widow reminded me that DID’s are a T-Cell brainchild. He’s right. First workout I ever Q’d 4 years ago at Titan, these babies were introduced.

Quick mosey down to REI and back up.

Got to baking some fresh ciabatta with box jumps on the way. Mosey back up to top of garage for another round of Parking Lot Shuffle and some Mary while BV discussed dressing up like Billie Jean King for Halloween.

Moleskin:

Keep Darth Visor in your prayers. Great reminder that EVERY day is a gift. Even better reason to start the morning with the men of F3. Also a reminder that we all need to be prepared for moments like these at workouts.

Olan Mills was the 6th man. He also reminded us to stay on guys with our EH’s. OM was a BV EH and was head locked for a year before saying yes. So stay on em!

 

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The Bomber Roller Coaster

Weather: It’s Always Sunny in Sylvan Park

Q: T-Cell

Pax:  Princess Aurora, Dewey, Lemon, Hambone, Bicentennial Man, Vector, Harvy Updyke, Studio 42, Porcelain, High Viz, Firefox, Lunch Lady, Rocket League, Barthelona, Reveille, Keep the Change, DaVinci, Trapper Keeper, Crab Legs, Huggy, Clark Stint (FNG), Vinyl Signs (FNG), Rainmaker, (FNG)

24 rolled up, including a clown car of FNG’s from recent FNG DaVinci for a T-Cell special that apparently had Hambone feeling semi-erect for the last 24 hours.

Mosey around the hood just to get some Sylvan Park flavor and back up to the top parking lot. Warmorama of 20 SSH, 15 Imperial Walkers, 10 Willie Mays Hays, 10 Squats, 10 Merkins, 20 Mountain Climbers, and finish with some Bat Wings.

Mosey down to the bottom of the hill to board the roller coaster. Here was the deal, run up to the top of the hill, perform 1 burpee, run down other side to the gate, reverse run back up the hill, perform 2 burpees, run down to the start. This continued until you did 8 burpees. Porcelain remarked that this felt like a roller coaster since you went up slowly then put your hands up at top before coming back down. Alas, we now have the Bomber Roller Coaster.

On to the parking lot for relay races. Each time squared off in a sprint against a member of the other team whilst the pax did squats and SSH. Had a marquee start with PA and Dewey leading us off.  Dewey however pulled a hammy on the way back. The 2’s took the competition.

Finished with some Mary, which turned into a impromptu “Plank Up Comedy Show”. Lots of good jokes. None of them repeatable.

Wrapped with COT and the naming of the new guys.

Keep Lunch Lady in your prayers as he’s got a challenging year ahead at his job. Praying things get better with his boss and his blood pressure (those two are related)

Praises for Reveille’s father being back on US soil. Grateful for his service.

Had 10 for coffeteria.

Thank you men. It’s an honor to lead you.

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440 on the 440 and Double the AO’s

YHC was planning on rain. Didn’t happen. What a glorious treat.

12 showed for a little exploration of the recently completed 440 Greenway.

First we did a quick COP in the Great Lawn. WMH, GM, SSH, Squat, and Merkins. It was quick. Needed to get moving. I had no idea how long that sucker was going to be. Felt like an Aunt Bea Q.

We started at what will now be the official Westeros launch point at the Greenway entrance. We did 10 Merkins, 10 Squats. 10 Little Baby Crunches, and 10 SSH. This 40-pack would be repeated 10 more times (11 total sets)

We headed down the 440 Greenway, stopping occasionally for the 40-pack. Ultimately, in maybe what had not been accomplished since Ironclad 1.0, we arrived at Titan. Circled back and finished our 40 packs at the start. For those who weren’t tracking, we did 440 of the exercises. Greenway is approx 2.5 miles. Helpful to know for any future Ironclad events.

Wrapped up with some Mary.

Bullhorn:

  1. Wednesday is Mickey’s last day before he heads to Chapel Hill. Let’s send him out with a bang.
  2. Continued prayers for Vectors father plus Reveille’s brother and father. One is deploying to Russian border and father is coming home.
  3. GREAT having Harvey Updike back out. With Voucher appearing, enjoy seeing so many new-old faces. Who knows, maybe The Mighty Stork  is coming back next.
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Friendly (playlist) Friday

It’s always perfect in Sylvan Park. No need for a weather update.

QIC– T-Cell

Pax– Princess Aurora, High Viz, Right Said, Porcelain, Third Person, Hawkeye, Trapper Keeper, Firefox, The Baptist, Lemon, Vector, Ebola, Bad Boy, Reveille, Crawlspace, Tiny Dancer (FNG), ABBA, (FNG) and Crab Legs (FNG).

Friendly Friday at Bomber last week. After Big Bang promising 20, we were so close, except we were missing one person, Big Bang. Sadly, after a visible mosey we circled by for some bricks.

COP – SSH, GM, Squats and some Merkins.

Mosey down to the bottom of the hill. Partner up for some friendliness. We had two circuits. One was leg heavy.

Box 1 were lunges or jump lunges for the pros.  Box 2 were squat or jump squats for the pros. Box 3 were calf raises and Box 4 were Bulgarian Split Squats. And then two runners half-way up the hill as timers.

Other sides was Box 1 merkins or burpees for the pros. Box 2 were Lat Raises with bricks, Box 3 were overhead press with a cement block and Box 4 were Bat Wings (20 front circles, 20 reverse, 20 seal claps, and 20 overhead claps. And then two runners half-way up as timers.

I tried to add a little music for the day but my Haim centric playlist was getting panned. Only hard rock for this crew apparently.

Each group went through twice and then we switched.

Lil mosey around the building and finish with some mosey.

Great to have another great crowd at Bomber. And great having 3 FNGs, way to go Right Said and Third Person for the recruits. And great to have Fernando from the Sylvan Park Fest out. The tent worked!

I had to bolt, but rumors of 13 for coffeteria. We might have to open our own coffeeshop.

#KBA #BlameBigBang

 

 

 

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Ultimate Warriors

The Pax: T-Cell (Q), Right Said, Firefox, En Fuego, Trapper Keeper, Hawkeye, and Porcelain. (TEAM BLACK SHIRTS)

Princess Aurora, Reveille, High Viz, The Baptist, Pop A Lock, Third Person, Hambone (TEAM COLORED SHIRTS)

I’ll explain the teams in a moment. Perfect conditions. Dry field. Record breaking Westeros crowd. Today was ripe for Westeros Ultimate Frisbee Game 1.

YHC got caught at the wrong light and came in hot, like 5:31 am. Not good. Luckily Firefox was rolling in just as late with the customized T-Cell frisbee and cones.

The Thang:

Quick mosey around to the school and down to the great lawn. After some SSH, Squats, Merkins, WMH, and GM, we got down to action.

Was grateful to have a perfectly outlined field of play ready to go. All we had to do is throw down some cones, explain the rules to Reveille, and then divide up. Shirt colors made it easy.

Normal rules applied, except every drop pass was 5 merkins for everyone and for every goal scored against your team, 3 burpees that built. Plying to 7. Let’s kick this off.

Quick Game 1 Recap – The Black Shirt were machines. Firefox clearly had some sort of “don’t guard me” shield around him because it was 3-0 before the put a body on them. I think at 4-0 the Black Shirt started doing burpees with TCS. Eventually it was a 6-0 lead before TCS got on the board. Final of game 1 was 7-1. We all did burpess because although TBS was dominant, we were also empathetic.

Quick Game 2 Recap- Swapped Firefox for Reveille. TCS came out firing and took a 2-1 lead. TBS tied it up at 2-2. It was 6:15am, so next score won. Right Said threw a beautiful pass to YHC for the win.

Team Black Shirts goes 2-0 for the morning.

Despite a little ultimate rustiness, it was a lot of fun. Got about 5,000 steps in and 2.35 miles, so covered some ground along with some merkins and burpees. Won’t be the last game of the summer.

Bullhorn:

IronClad is in full swing. Good to have Hambone and Pop A Lock make a visiting Q. Still not to late to sign up, see the slack or holla at PA. Get signed up, even if it’s just for the patch (and the t-shirt!)

Friday is Friendly Friday across Nashville. YHC on the Q at Bomber and I’ll make it FNG-friendly. Your brother’s need this, so don’t be shy with the EH’s.