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8 PAX showed up for the *official* inaugural West Park AO Launch.

We took this opportunity to explore many of the features of the park, discuss names and marvel at a water tank that could have only been painted by Bob Ross himself. There was a disclaimer somewhere in there as well.

PAX:  Pumpkin Spice, Vector, Hi-Viz, Right Said, Crawlspace, Porcelain, Crablegs (YHC) and Cunning Linguist

Conditions:   High 20s, windy, excellent

Warm up got started with a trip around 75% of the 1 mile loop encircling the park. This gave us a 270 degree view of the water tank prior to landing near the playground area .

Warm-o-rama:  SSH, high knees, merkins, squats, WMH, LBACs, OHCs

Thang 1:

PAX Partnered up and got to a round of DORA.

The exercises were 100 Merkins, 200 Step ups and 300 LBACs (alt 15 forward and back).

The running target became progressively further with each round finding the PAX at a garbage can further and further away.

Thang 2:

PAX got the opportunity to spend time with a new take on an old favorite: The DIDI

3 Rounds of DIDIs as follows:

20 Picnic Table Dips

15 Incline Pushups

10 Decline Pushups

15 Irwins (Irwin -aka Steve Irwin – aka Down under: Inverted row underneath the swings with hands on swing or the chains)

We finished out the day with 2 hill sprints up the entrance to the park and a COT.

NMM:

YHC is honored and proud to have the chance to help grow F3 Nashville with the launching of this AO. Looking forward to seeing more PAX out here on Thursdsay mornings and can’t wait to see where this goes.

SYITG,

Crablegs

PAX:  Studio 42, Apgar, Blue Mule, Reville, Porcelain, Incognito (WL from F3 Lexington), Harvey Updike, Right Said, BnB, G-string, Bicentennial Man, Crablegs (YHC), Trapper Keeper, Brother at Law

Conditions:   Easily in Double Glove range

Warm-O-Rama

PAX started the brisk morning off with a mosey to the concert venue near West End Ave for a muddy WOR that included LBACs, Merkins, high knees, air presses and squats – not necessarily in that order. We picked partners and took a mosey to the first challenge of the day.

Part One:

PAX lined up at the base of the hill that approaches 31st ave and traveled up in the form of a Crawl Bear. Each PAX performed 2 merkins for every 5 hand moves up the mountain until they reached the top where 10 jump squats and a significant degree of mumble chatter awaited them.

Back down the hill with an alternating leg lunge for more mumble chatter and 10 burpees.

Part Two:

PAX moseyed to the ellipse on the back side of the parthenon, found the aforementioned partners and prepared for DORA.

100 Merkins – 150 squat press (squat w/ overhead press modification) – 200 LBCs (cadence style, so 1 LBC = 0.5 rep)

MARY:

1 Minute of Mary found just enough time for 10 burpees to close out.

COT:

• Prayers for my close friend whose wife had really terrible post-delivery course after their first child this week.
• West Park AO launching this week
• Q sheet open for February

Several PAX continued to get better mentally with Q source study at 3 bros.

SYITG,

Crablegs

PRE-PARTY

A nearly 5-mile pre-party was enjoyed by YHC and Porcelain at an easy 8:02 pace. (There are plans to achieve a 6 mile pre-party in the same 40 minute time frame before a workout before too long) Shovel flags were then planted to prepare for the real action.

THE MAIN EVENT

QIC: Pumpkin Spice

PAX: Badboy, Bicentennial Man, Crablegs, Crawlspace, Cunning Linguist, En Fuego, Firefox, Harvey Updike,  Hi-Viz, Lunchlady, Porcelain, Pop-a-lock, Preacher Man, Ride Along, Shadow, Silver Medal, T-cell,  Tiny Dancer, Trapper Keeper, Vector

THE THANG

After a brief disclaimer, the PAX moseyed and made their way to the top parking lot for some Warmorama. The exercises served as a foreshadowing of the impending Broad Jump Relay pain:

• SSH x 30
• Flutter Kicks x 10
• Merkins x 10
• Squats x 10
• Plank Jacks x 10
• Low Plank Jacks x 10
• American Hammers x 10
• High Knees x 10

The PAX then counted off to identify their parter-in-pain for the Main Event. We moseyed to the top of the main entrance hill for instructions.

One partner is at the top of the hill doing flutter kicks. The other partner runs down and around the traffic circle and then, once they reach the stone wall entrance, broad jumps the 50-or-so meters up the hill until they get back to their partner. They tag each other out with a 5 burpee handshake and trade places. After both partners have run the course, they burpee handshake and then rinse and repeat with the following sets of exercises at the top of the hill AMRAP:

• Flutter Kicks (already done first)
• Merkins
• Squats
• Plank Jacks (alternating 10 high and 10 low)
• American Hammers

Hi-Viz closed out with a final 5 MOM while YHC made an early exit to get to work on time (We’ll call it a FIFO).

MOLESKIN

• YHC was apparently utilizing more of a bunny hop technique rather than a true broad jump for the first round of the relays. Mumblechatter abounded, notably by one T-cell, and YHC’s form slowed down for the subsequent rounds with T-cell’s approval of broad jump execution. 
• Later in the Relay, the broad jump for many PAX seemed to take on the form of what seemed to me more of a walking lunge — but, as evidenced by my bunny hop, who am I to say so. I’m no expert on technique.
• Many questioned the sanity of YHC, finding the Relay to be of a particularly potent degree of pumpkin spiciness

BULLHORN

• Look out for an inaugural (formal) West Park AO Q from the one and only Crablegs this coming Thursday. Details to be posted on Slack.
• Congratulations to Vector on taking the reigns as Bomber AO Q! The West Side’s most highly-attended AO could not be in better hands.

Lower 40’s temps and wet pavement greeted the 17 PAX who chose to end the work week correctly.

Took the bus loop for a warmup lap with some backpedaling up the hill for good measure.

WOR:

20 SSH

10 Slow ‘n Low Squats

10 LBAC (and reverse)

10 Seal Claps

10 Good Mornings

10 WMH

10 Tempo Merks

Thang:

We did 3 rounds of BLIMPS in the parking lot (5 burpees, 10 lunges, 15 imperial walkers, 20 merkins, 25 planjax, 30 sqauts). After each round, PAX instructed to run the capri lap before starting the next round. WWI for the 6.

Partner up and head to the rails with a coupon. P1 performs 10 rows with block on chest while P2 holds his legs. Flapjack, and 3 sets total.

Up next, P1 takes off around the baseball field loop while P2 performs AMRAP of Shoulder Presses with the coupon until P1 gets back. Flapjack.

Round 2 – Curls

Round 3 – Squats

Various Mary exercises were instructed while the rest of the 6 came in.

Returned the coupons and headed back to the parking for 10 burpees.

Time.

Good work today by everyone. And welcome FNG Blue Devil, who went to UNC.

PAX:  Vector, Pumpkin Spice, Bad Boy, HiViz, Porcelain, Cunning Linguist, Harvey Updike, Autotune (FNG), Right Said, Crawlspace, Crablegs, T-Cell

Temp: low 40s, damp and gloomy

12 PAX got the week started off right with a trip to Westeros. The original plan was scrapped when Vector’s Blue Devils schemed themselves open to break the hearts of Nole nation everywhere.  Thanks to this, we worked until Reddish in the face today.

Mosey to the back parking lot for WAR:

SSHx15, WMH x 12, Cherry Pickers x 12, LBAC x 15, Air Presses (air ball for Vector, but really for me) x 15, rLBAC x 15. We picked partners and were thankful for an even 12 PAX prior to mosey to the playground for some modified DORA.

DORA: 100 pullups, 150 merkins, 200 squats. The traveling partner would run to the steps of West End Middle School, bear crawl up the steps, 3 burpees at the top (3 at the top of the key, so to speak), and crawl bear down prior to returning to their partner. This was tough and many thanks to Bad Boy and others who helped ease the squat burden for struggling PAX (YHC included).

This was followed by a quick mosey back to those same steps for 7s: Jump squats at the bottom, burpees up top. PAX were given the opportunity to choose their means of traveling up the stairs. Most ran while Pumpkin Spice went with the crawl bear.

Next up was a mosey to the west edge of the park for an AYG hill spring to the shovel flag and a bit of Mary go round.

We wrapped up with the COT and the welcoming of FNG Autotune who was brought by Pumpkin Spice. He will now claim his ironclad credit and we will hope that Autotune returns.

Announcements:

-RSVP for Leadership luncheon

-4:13 strong starting back up. Incredible opportunity here.

-Be on the lookout for a more consistent F3 Presence at West Park on Thursday mornings, with a new AO coming quite soon. You could even HC for a workout this Thursday if you want. An official name will be chosen on this day.

PAX: Umbrella, Joey Freshwater (Kotter), Black Widow, Boone’s Farm, Tampa Libra, Funyuns, Toga (QIC), Venus, Tiny Dancer, Double Check, Razorback, Offshore, Pop a lock

13 lucky contestants didn’t skip leg day at The Racetrack.  Here’s how it went down:

Quick disclaimer then mosey to parking lot beside the parking deck.  Warmup COP: SSH, imperial walkers, hillbillies, T-Ups, cotton pickers.  10 burpees for Tampa Libra being late.

Mosey to stairwell for a quick ascent to the top of the deck.  In honor of the great American songwriter Paula Abdul, we began “one step forward and two steps back”= run down the ramp, backpedal back up, complete 10 merkins, run down to the flat and lunge the flat to the next down ramp.  Repeato till the bottom floor then execute pole smokers till the six arrived.  Mosey to the wall outside Holler and Dash, dream of biscuits then execute 1 rd of DID (Incline merkins, dips, decline merkins), and complete 10 step-ups for each leg.

Mosey to stair well.  Attempt to beat previous time for PAX to ascend stairs, fail, and get better with 10 burpees.

Mosey to monkey bars back at the park.  Execute 6 pull-up pyramid then get in formation for old school football ground drills.  Mosey back to the flag.

COT and Joey FW took us out.

Announcements:

• Prayers for those dealing with illness and loss
• Warpath this Saturday
• Leadership Lunch next Friday, 1/18.  See post and RSVP
• We’re back at 4:13 next Thursday.  Get back out there to support these young men entering the program.
• The Standard week 2 happens tomorrow!

NMM:  The Racetrack has a lot to offer.  You’ve got the parking deck, the park, and Umbrella’s tiny flag.  Everyone worked hard this morning, and it’s great to have Mr Freshwater back in the mix.

Stay Classy,

Toga

What my 4-year old has taught me about leadership

My wife and I have a very active 4-year old son. Anyone who has spent a lot of time with children knows they often don’t have a filter. At times this can be bad, but sometimes it is very thought-provoking. I’ve read many great articles over the years on leadership from high-profile CEO’s, High-ranking Military officers, and inspirational leaders. I have learned a lot from these various sources however, I am finding some of the core foundations of leadership can come right from our children.

Below are few candid comments that have been shared by my son over the last several months that have made me stop and reflect on leadership.

“It’s dark upstairs, will you hold my hand?”

As a leader, we sometimes lead our teams into the “unknown”. It can be a change within the organization, a big meeting we are preparing for, a customer-facing event that could go in many different directions, you name it. We need to instill the confidence and trust within our team to let them know it will be alright and we will be with them every step of the way. It’s important they know we are there for them and will we go at it together. Prior to being in leadership myself, I had the misconception that good leaders had all the answers. I now know from personal experience that isn’t always the case. Although, I often don’t have all the immediate answers I have found that people always appreciate the presence and support of knowing they aren’t facing a situation alone.

“Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t, but it’s okay.”

Everyone in some capacity whether in sports, work, or your occasional Monopoly game is competitive (in my son’s case, any game involving hockey). We won’t win all the time, but it’s how we react to our losses that tell us a story about ourselves. I have found that in leadership it takes emotional intelligence to not have a bad attitude after a loss. It is important to quickly assess and analyze where we went wrong and learn from it.

“Sharing is Caring”

If there is one word that we say the most when we are with our son and other kids, it’s “share”. I love to learn. I want to read books and articles about leadership successes and how to replicate them, but I also enjoying reading about challenges and failures. In leadership (and personally), I feel it’s equally important that we share where we have had success and where we have struggled. I have found that I have learned more from conversations with others sharing experiences than any other avenue of learning.

In our four years with our son, we have had some humbling conversations. Sometimes it’s a laughable moment, sometimes not. I believe that leadership principles happen around us daily, however, it all depends on how we look at them. I am still learning every day on how to be a better leader. I look forward to all the additional things he will teach me as he grows.

-Michael Jobe (Bad Boy)