Tortoise & Hare – Run 3

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Chunks, Hair Band, Crawlspace, Barney, Judy, Right Said, Decaf, Dan Tanna, Poker Face, Hello Kitty, By Design, All Wheel Drive, Hot Wire, Greyhound, Fresh Start, Hoop Dreams, Richie Rich
FNGs: None
COUNT: 18
CONDITIONS: Perfect running weather – 54 degrees and dark!

WARMUP: The usual – SSH, Squats, IWs, Leg Stretches and some OYO stretching.

THE THANG: Partner up and RUN!! 3.0 miles. We had the usual hares take off in a sprint while the rest of the group maintained a good steady pace. Just like in the story, 3 of hares were overtaken but one remained out front.

We had 4 4:13 Strong men set PRs today, all of which were below 30:00! This is a fast class that continues to push themselves on Tuesday mornings.

MOLESKINE: Thank you for running with us morning. Your encouragement of the 4:13 Strong men makes a huge difference in their day.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Reminder: The annual 4:13 Strong Standing Strong dinner is on Thursday, April 24, 6p-8p. F3 Franklin, F3 Brentwood and F3 Nashville all have tables at the event. Brentwood has already filled their table, and Franklin is close. The Nashville table is in last place. If you would like to join us, let me know and I will get you registered.

COT: Prayers for family, healing, strength and endurance.

AOQ Grow School – The FNG Experience

AO: stonewall
Q: Toothless
PAX: Hair Band, sooner, Right Said, Chunks, Cowboy, Pep, SalPal, Tea Party
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS: Cool, not crisp. The in-between zone gear wise.

PLAYLIST: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/459qwYOyQ4j1hCmtMHFZsC?si=53422ffe45df444f

WARMUP:
– SSH x 30
– High knees x 10
– Butt kickers x 10
– Windmills x 10
– Willy Mays Hays x 12
– Carrot pullers x 10
– Michael Phelps x 10
– Good Mornings x 10 oyo

THE THANG:

Patrol run to lot by mansion, PAX count off forming three groups.

– Group 1 does a ground exercise
– Group 2 does a standing exercise
– Group 3 runs and is a timer

All shuffle when G3 returns to get time at each station. Runners to the ground, ground stands up, and standing group runs.

Do four sets (~2 mins AMPRAP in each station based on runners) – AMPRAP = As Many Perfect Reps As Possible:
1. Hand Release Merkins, Prisoner squats
2. American Hammers, Burpees
3. Carolina Dry Docks, Lt. Dans
4. Big Boy Sit Ups, SSHs

Patrol run back down the hill and circle up for…

Rings of Fire :fire:
Thunderstruck
– High and low plank, up/down on Thunderstruck
Roxeanne
– SSH / Burpees on Roxeanne
Flower (Bring Sally Up)
– Squats, as directed by Moby

MOLESKINE: Good work this morning men! The rotations section featured questions to ask of your group, such as:
1. How did you get your F3 name?
2. What do you remember from your first workout?
3. What made you decide to come out to that first workout?
4. What made you decide to keep coming after that first workout?

CoT featured everyone sharing one thing they learned about their fellow PAX – this was a great chance to share about our fellow PAX and practice for learning about FNGs during the workouts!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– AOQ Grow School was this morning (thanks Pep :smirk:)
– Hot Wings event from The Merchant on 3/26
– Spring Fling on 4/6 from Pitmaster and Natural Ice – CBO
– Merkin Madness continues!
– April will be the Month of the FNG! To be shared broadly later this weekend

It was an honor to lead men! Discussion notes from the Grow School portion on the FNG experience will be posted soon for the benefit of all. Thanks for the work you put in this morning on both fronts! And thanks to Hair Band for coordinating a great opportunity for our PAX! :muscle:

— Toothless :tooth:

We got pesto…

AO: the-castle
Q: Strutter
PAX: Chunks, Every Other, Strutter
FNGs: None
COUNT: 3
CONDITIONS: Clear and sunny. High 60’s.

WARMUP:

THE THANG:

MOLESKINE:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT:

Tortoise & Hare #1

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Chunks, Right Said, Crawlspace, Dan Tanna, SalPal, Decaf, Barney, Peso, Percy Jackson, FNG 1, FNG 2, FNG 3, FNG 4, FNG 5, FNG 6, FNG 7
FNGs: 7 FNG 1, FNG 2, FNG 3, FNG 4, FNG 5, FNG 6, FNG 7
COUNT: 17
CONDITIONS: A cool 41 degrees…perfect for a dark, early morning run.

WARMUP: SSH, Squats, IWs, stretching

THE THANG: Partner up with someone who knows the course and RUN! Early finishers had a choice…spend time in the circle with SalPal or go back and pick up the six. Not surprising that most chose to go back than to get better with Sally.

MOLESKINE: A great first effort today by the 4:13 Strong men. Despite having to crawl under the gate to reach the finish line, we still had an “all in” time of 37:52. Not a bad start for this class.

Thank you to the F3 PAX who joined us this morning. Your presence was greatly appreciated.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The 4:13 Strong Standing Strong dinner is 44 days away. Three regions are in a competition to see who can fill a table first. The current score is: Brentwood 7, Franklin 5 and Nashville 2. Register to attend the dinner and help get Nashville across the line first. Reminder…M’s are welcome and encouraged to join you at the dinner. Find the link for registration in a previous Stronghold post.

Why is Q Running so Far

AO: the-castle
Q: Pep
PAX: Dilbert, A Boy Named Sue, hambone, Chunks
FNGs: None
COUNT: 5
CONDITIONS:
Cool and windy

WARMUP:
run to high school. Hope that hambone and Chunks can catch up from their pre-run

THE THANG:
cards of death:
– spade: windshield wiper
– clubs: fire hydrant
– heart: squats
– diamond: merkins
A==20, face card == 15

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Coming Thursday night moves – check slack

Animal Movements

AO: bomber
Q: DintyMoore
PAX: hambone, CubCadet, Vector, Chunks, Crawlspace, Puzzlah, Pep, Michelin Man, Papa Bear, Poppa Lock, Salami
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: Near perfection

WARMUP: mosey to south green tee box
10 Merkins
Arm and Leg warmup routine
10 Merkins

THE THANG:
The HIMs of greenmachine completed this Q last week- it was only slightly modified for Bomber lot incorporate the #merkinmadness since no one posted at GM. The goal was to test the animal prowess of the two PAX.

Animal Movements
Animal 1 and 2
Inchworm :worm:
Crab walk :crab:
10 merkins

Animal 3 and 4
Frog Jumps :frog:
Leaping Lizard :lizard:
10 merkins

Animal 5 and 6
Duck walk :duck:
Donkey Jumps 🫏
10 merkins

Animal 7 and 8
Kangaroos :kangaroo:
Coyote :wolf:
10 merkins

Bear Crawl :bear:
T. rex :t-rex:
10 Merkins

Mosey back to start X for Mary – pit stop for extra merkins and dips.

MOLESKINE:
Be a positive light to someone in your world today. Lots of pain and hurt (outside our workouts) in the world and people need that one caring friend.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
NightMoves next Thursday
New 4:13 cohort starts next week

COT: Always a pleasure to lead, SYITG

If F3 existed 80 years ago…..

AO: atlantis
Q: CubCadet
PAX: SalPal, Chunks, Firefox, Right Said, Pole Dancer, Toothless, Young and Restless, Subway, CubCadet
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS: Colder than we expected

WARMUP: Workout was inspired by Q’s recent visit to the National WW2 Museum in NOLA. We mosey’d in formation around the ball field. PAX has to stay two columns abreast and within arm’s length of person in front. Allowed to ample mumble chatter and heal-stepping, but good team cohesion. Q threw out a few random bits of WW2 / fitness related information….like “in 1941, the recommended time for unit fitness was 1 hour after breakfast”

Once to parking lot, we did the standard 21st century warm-ups b/c the 1940’s once looked too much like bad dance moves and Q didn’t care to demonstrate.

THE THANG: The WW2 standard physical fitness test (I am sure there are many, but this is the one we did).

– Pull-ups to exhaustion. Had to modify based on equipment. In 1941: 20 was an Excellent Score / 9 was a Fair Score.
– Squat Jumps to exhaustion: These are not your standard F3 Squat Jumps. Starting position is squatting on right heel with fingers laced on top of head, palms down. The feet are 4 – 6″ apart with he feel of the left foot on a line with the right foot. Spring upward until both knees are straight and both feet clear the ground. Keep upper body erect. While off the ground, reverse your feet before you land. Each leg is 1. In 1941: 75 was an Excellent Score / 38 was a Fair Score.
– Push-ups to exhaustion: If it looks like a merkin and smells like a merkin. In 1941: 54 was an Excellent Score / 30 was a Fair Score.
– Sit-ups for 2 min: Legs straight at start, hand behind head, scorer holds feet / ankles. Left elbow to right knee on the up (one rep), then alternate to right elbow to left knee for rep two….. In 1941: 79 was an Excellent Score / 51 was a Fair Score.
– 300 yard shuttle run: Spring 5 segments of 60 yards each in parking lot. Distance was only approximate. In 1941: 44 seconds was an Excellent Score / 50 seconds was a Fair Score.

Then we moved to the “Mass Athletics and Group Games” portion of the session. Field Manual 21-20 (c 1941) lists many, but we chose a couple reps of “Follow the Leader” through the playground / obstacle course and then “In and Out” which was sort of a last-man-up run with a rolling basketball, pax in a stationary line, and some zigging and some zagging.

Fit in 30 reps of flutter kicks before time.

MOLESKINE: We all know some history of WW2 whether from school, books, movies, friends or family. It’s nearly impossible to comprehend the entire world being solely focused on one thing for 5+ years. There are some elements of its origins and residue that impact the daily news 80 years later. I’d like to think that if F3 existed back then, its members would have made us very proud (and probably given us a real beat-down).

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 4:13 strong kicks off new class next week. Please consider supporting. For details and other events, see slack.

COT: Pole Dancer friend’s baby getting out of N-ICU. Toothless mother-in-law health. Chunks new job / travels. Firefox challenges as a leader / mentor at work. And the intentions in our heart.

Thank you for the opportunity to lead.

Solve the riddle, escape the beatdown

AO: bomber
Q: Puzzlah
PAX: Firefox, Chunks, DintyMoore, Black Lung, Cream Cheese, Tim the Toolman, Papa Bear, Pep, hambone, Bravefart
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Chlly-ish to start

WARMUP:
Dynamic warm-up
Arm Circles
a little old man yoga
Cherry pickers

THE THANG:

Put together some crummy rhyming riddles in the form of an escape game/puzzle Q that ask the Pax to guess where the next stop on our adventure would be.

I line up in rows, strong and high,
Where kids swing through the sky.
Grip me tight and don’t let go,
Or down to the ground you’ll go!

To escape:
100 Rocky Balboas
25 Incline Merkins
25 Dolly Partons

Mosey to Monkey Bars.

I eat small spheres, then spit them out,
into the bucket, without a doubt.
Before you swing, you must come to me,
Where dimpled orbs are set free.

To escape:
(Option to hit 50) 30 pull-ups – 30 merkins- 30 rows – 30 squats – 2 laps
(partitioned however you want)

Mosey to Driving Range machine.

While today is nice, sometimes it’s not,
Can find this covered spot?
Next to the clubhouse to get some gainz,
It’s where we work out when it rains.

To escape:
Lunge down, Broad jump back length of driving range

Mosey to clubhouse

Practice a gentle tap, get a generous roll,
Avoid the sand, your chip finds the hole.
To complete this puzzle, you must be quick,
A surprise is waiting to do the trick.

To escape:
30 burpees
30 Carolina dry docks
30 mountain climbers (each leg)
30 dips

Mosey to Chipping Green.

Beep Test, either running or a SSH on the side. Congrats to Black Lung for getting to 10.0 :exploding_head: and making it look a lot easier than I’m sure it felt. DintyMoore, Bravefart, and Cream Cheese rounded out the top 4, but Cream Cheese will never see this, so did it really happen? I think each got to Round 8, but I was struggling to focus after I got caught at 7.3 (I think).

MOLESKINE:
Appreciating Firefox’s request of words of gratitude even though I often struggle to put them together. Grateful to lead and put together some (hopefully) fun puzzles for the group.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
TONIGHT is Game Night at Chez Firefox
Sign up for Merkin Madness.
Night moves is now March 13.

COT:
A number of prayers for family and friends, clarity around jobs, and gratitude for wins of our family and friends.

Tortoise & Hare – Run #4, See it Through

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Chunks, hambone, Right Said, tampalibra, Crawlspace, Decaf, Barney, Whoopi (Franklin), D Pole, Yes Chef, Airball, Sax Man, Jackie Moon, Wolverine, Mane ‘N Tail, Big Rig, Toots, Toadstool
FNGs: None
COUNT: 19
CONDITIONS: 61 degrees with a light mist in the air

WARMUP: SSH, Squats, Tappy Taps, IWs, Stretches

THE THANG: Partner Up and RUN!!

MOLESKINE: We had several PRs today – Wolverine, Mane ’N Tail and hambone!

Today we put into practice the last line of the poem we have memorized…“eyes front, head high, to the finish, see it through”. Several PAX failed to see it through this morning, opting to take a break after the run rather than join the circle. To make sure that everyone finished together, a surprise 1/4 mile was added in before COT.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Only two more runs remain for this class. Signing Day is Friday 2/21

COT: Prayers for healing, family, strength and guidance.

BurpeeClock-Alypse

AO: thestronghold
Q: Natural Ice – CBO
PAX: bluemule, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Dan and Dave, toga, Chunks, Chyna, Young and Restless, Red Skull, Mullet, Right Said, Skeet, Decaf, Natural Ice – CBO, Airball, Yes Chef, Square root, Toadstool, Mane ‘N Tail, Saxman, D Pole, Big Rig, Duece and a Half, Jackie Moon, Take 3, Toots, Wolverine
FNGs: None
COUNT: 25
CONDITIONS: Fantastic

WARMUP:
– SSH
– Squats
– Merkins
– Arm Circles
– Air Press
– Seal Claps
– Moroccan Nightclubs
– Stretching as needed

THE THANG:
PAX set off on a mosey toward the Helicopter Pad. However, YHC quickly grew deeply disappointed at the sluggish pace, so the mosey evolved into a series of sprints to keep things honest.

Burpee-A-Clock-Alypse – Round 1
– 5 burpees on the minute, every minute, for 15 minutes
– Between sets, YHC generously provided “active recovery” through squats, SSH, and LBCs
– Total burpees: 75

After finally feeling properly warmed up, we took off on sprint intervals back toward the StartEx. Along the way, we peeled off for 5 more rounds of burpees to bring the total up to a nice, even 100.

Upon returning to the StartEx and realizing we still had time left, YHC—ever the gracious leader—gifted the men with an opportunity to complete 5 bonus burpees (you’re welcome).

COT:
Outstanding effort from the men of 413 Strong today. The grit, attitude, and willingness to push through the suck were truly impressive. Proud to lead this crew!