Tortoise & Hare, Run #3

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Wham-O, Judy, Young and Restless, Hipster, Laces Out, Chunks, Right Said, Brown Slip, Touchback, Decaf, Barney, tampalibra, Mater, Dinky, Mosh Pit, Puppy Chow, Shred-It, Cuties, Go Fish, Speed Date, Comic Book Guy, Raisin, Old Man River, Nap Time
FNGs: None
COUNT: 25
CONDITIONS: 64 degrees and dark…perfect running weather!

WARMUP: Standard pre-run warm-up – SSH, Squats, IWs, Stretches, WMH

THE THANG: Partner up and RUN!!! Like usual, half the 4:13 Strong men took off like they were being chased. Several kept the pace up for the whole three miles and finished with sub 25:00 runs. We had four 4:13 Strong PRs this morning plus several F3 PRs. Everyone was so fast today we had five extra minutes of Mary for all!

MOLESKINE: What a great morning at The Stronghold. Thank you to the F3 PAX for strong showing and the great coffeeteria!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Struggle 005 – still time so claim a spot. I promise The Struggle 005 patch will be your favorite patch. Earn it and wear it with pride.

If you love burpees so much why don’t you marry them

AO: iiipillars
Q: SalPal
PAX: Pep, Two Face, Grape, Shania, Go Fish, Breech (DR)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
CONDITIONS: A perfect 57 minute gap between rain.

WARMUP: Manly Mile on the Kid’s Track

THE THANG: Bear Crawl Suicides with Accumulated Assorted Merkins

MOLESKINE: Always love the chatter at this place. Y’all have something special, grateful to be a part this morning.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Octoburpee (lol), 2.0 Workout, TN Tussle, Night Moves

COT: Healing for family, career, peace in our world.

Tortoise & Hare, Run #2

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Wham-O, Squatter, Crawlspace, Right Said, tampalibra, Chunks, Barney, Decaf, Touchback, Brown Slip, Laces Out, Mater, Dinky, Mosh Pit, Puppy Chow, Rocket Man, Shred-It, Cuties, Go Fish, Speed Date, Comic Book Guy, Raisin, Old Man River, Nap Time
FNGs: None
COUNT: 25
CONDITIONS: Dark, Damp and Humid – Where is fall?

WARMUP: Standard pre-run warm-up: SSH, Squats, IWs, Stretches, WMH

THE THANG: Partner up and RUN!!! Despite the conditions, the 4:13 Strong men showed out this morning. We had 8/13 PRs and a new fastest time for the class of 21:06 (Raisin).

For the first time in a couple of classes, we had everyone in under 40:00…now we are shooting for an “all in” time of 35:00.

MOLESKINE: Despite the great effort on the run, the effort and attitude for the COT was lacking. As a reminder to work all the way through and not get sloppy on the easy things, we took off on a “reminder run” before trying to get in the COT again.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Struggle 005 10/24. Let Tampa know if you are in.

COT: Closing prayer let by Comic Book Guy.

Tortoise & Hare, Run #1

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Right Said, Crawlspace, SalPal, Salami, Michelin Man, Brown Slip, Young and Restless, Barney, Hipster, Decaf, Demo – F3 NoHo HTX, Speed Date, Go Fish, Puppy Chow, 10 FNGS
FNGs: 1 10 FNGS
COUNT: 25
CONDITIONS: Dark!

WARMUP: Circle Up, Warm Up – SSH, Squats, IWs, Stretches, WMH

THE THANG: Partner up and RUN!!!

MOLESKINE: A fantastic first run for the new class. 5 out of the 13 4:13 Strong men posted a sub 30:00 time. Another 4 finished sub 35:00 and we were “All In” at 41:37. This may be the class where we see everyone hit the 30:00 goal.

Thank you to all of my F3 brothers for such a great showing today. It had a huge impact on the 4:13 Strong guys who found it hard to believe that so many men would be willing to run with them.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Struggle 005 will be 10/24-10/25. Start making plans now to join us for this incredible physical and mental challenge.

COT: Prayers for strength, wisdom and guidance.

Tortoise & Hare, Run #2

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Wham-O, bluemule, Michelin Man, Chunks, Right Said, Crawlspace, hambone, Young and Restless, Hair Band, Judy, Decaf, Toto, Road Trip, Old Maid, Step Back, Beyonce, Puppy Chow, Purple Rain, Napoleon, 1 Star, Go Fish, Speed Date, Black Jack, Cow Pie, Cool Runnings, Clorox, Big Mama
FNGs: None
COUNT: 28
CONDITIONS: Moderate temps and high humidity created an absolute sweat-fest at The Stronghold.

WARMUP: Standard pre-run warmup routine: SSH, Squats, IWs, WMH and any other body part needing a stretch before running.

THE THANG: Pick your group (Fast, Medium and Less Than Medium) and RUN!!! Thanks to the great showing and encouragement of my F3 brothers, 8 out of 14 4:13 Strong men set a PR today. Thank you for showing up and offering encouragement.

MOLESKINE: Hard things are easier when you do them with someone else. Thank you F3 for such a strong showing this morning. I think this was the biggest run group we have ever had on a Tuesday!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: 50 mile CSAUP on Aug 29…get your 5 man team together now. There are several 4:13 Strong men that are interested in participating so if you are looking for a fifth, let me know.

COT: Prayers for wisdom, strength and endurance.

Struggle

AO: thestronghold
Q: tampalibra
PAX: Skeet, Barney, Wham-O, bigbang, Minnie Pearl, bluemule, House Arrest, Squatter (F3 Muletown), Red Skull, Decaf, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Hipster, Young and Restless, Dan and Dave, Chunks, hambone, Ponzi, Purple Tiger, Purple Rain, Black Jack, Beyoncé, 1 Star, Napoleon, Clorox, Old Maid, Go Fish, Step Back, Speed Date, Cool Runnings, Cow Pie, Puppy Chow, Big Mama, Kneecaps, Slick Rick, Tebow
FNGs: 17 Purple Rain, Black Jack, Beyoncé, 1 Star, Napoleon, Clorox, Old Maid, Go Fish, Step Back, Speed Date, Cool Runnings, Cow Pie, Puppy Chow, Big Mama, Kneecaps, Slick Rick, Tebow
COUNT: 36
CONDITIONS: Ripe

WARMUP: SSH x 30, Squats x 10, Merkins x 15

THE THANG:
Grab a block!

In the format of 7’s we started with 15 lunges (1is1) and 1 curl+1press, 14 lunges and 2curl+2press…1 lunges and 15curl+15press

Next we did 7’s: thrusters and burpees – mode of transpo is an overhead block carry

Circle up for 20 4-count flutters with block overhead, 19 block situps, 18 4CF’s, 17 block situps, etc all the way down. Don’t believe we made it past 15.

All-in-all a great workout! We were ~5 minutes over on the first two blocks, we should have had ample time to finish the core block. It’s not over-Q’d it’s the standard but 30+ guys are hard to move and hambone’s goofy ass tried to cause confusion on the counting and Red Skull somehow forgot how to demo a thruster like they haven’t been a staple of Struggle 001-004

MOLESKINE:
YHC got an urgent and tough call mid-workout that pulled me away for a second. Sobering example that stuggles dont care what you’ve got going on. Trying to help some dudes out? Trying to get your life in order? Finally submitting to God after years of straying? New baby on the way? New job? etc etc They’re coming brothers whether we like it or not so how can we prepare? We practice hard things so that we know how to respond when hard things happen.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
F3 Ragnar thingy – get at Chunks if you’re one of those weirdos that love running
Struggle 005 – announcement and new promo video about to drrrrroop

III Pillars – 07.15.25 – “Crystal Clear”

AO: iiipillars
Q: princessaurora
PAX: LorelaiG, t-cell, Choo Choo, Haggis, Swiffer, Go Fish, Pep
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
8 PAX were gathered here today to celebrate YHC’s 15th anniversary F3-style. Conditions were just as steamy as they were that hot July night in 2010, but the company left a little to be desired in comparison.

THE THANG:

After a brief disclaimer and a couple of laps around the track while I fumbled with the Bluetooth speaker, we circled up for:

SSH x 15

Shoulder Mobility
– Prone Alternating External Rotations
– Prone Presses

Hip Mobility
– 90-90 Alternating Internal Rotations
– 90-90 Pigeon
– 90-90 Heel/Knee Raises
– WMH x 10

Quick trip to the wall to hit a seated scapula stretch and then it was time for the show.

The traditional 15th anniversary gift is crystal, so I wanted to share that with all today.

PAX perform one set of 15 of each exercise below, followed by one lap around the track. After each lap, PAX drop one rep for the set (14, 13…1) and continue to do so until finished or time.

– Clerkin
– Reverse Crunch
– Y-Raise
– Squat
– Toe Touched
– Ab Thruster
– Lateral Lunge

Just as expectations are often unmet in marriage, so went our routine as most only got down in the 9-10 range.

Mosey back to startex for COT/BOM

MOLESKINE:

Today’s playlist was brought to you by my wife. Some fun facts about it: not only did I play it blind (my only direction for her was that it needs to be 45 minutes), but it was also her first playlist. I believe most would agree she nailed it. Consider yourselves lucky, gentlemen. I know I do.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

CSAUP 50-Miler 8/29. Hit up Chunks with any questions.

COT:

We took this time for everybody to share some piece of wisdom applicable either specific to marriage or to life in general, and wise words were shared indeed. Thank you for that.

Prayers for navigating health issues, familial strife, and relationships.

Always a pleasure to lead and be led at iiiP!

PA out.

Graduation

AO: iiipillars
Q: Will Norton
PAX: Grape, Haggis, Go Fish, Baguette, YumYum, princessaurora, Pep, Harbaugh, Shania, Sherlock, gov’t mule, wardas1, LorelaiG
FNGs: None
COUNT: 14
CONDITIONS: humid

WARMUP: SSH

THE THANG: iiiPillars

1. Academic excellence: 8 burpees, 5 pull ups, 30 BBSU’s, rinse and repeat
2. Passion for Christ: 8 dips, 15 flutters, 20 merkins, rinse and repeat
3. Leadership development: relay sprints

Mary and mosey

COT: prayers for Lorelai with his father passing away a couple of weeks ago, prayers for some of the SPCA teachers who are battling cancer, prayers for summer, and others

Songbirds of a Generation

AO: iiipillars
Q: Grape
PAX: Go Fish, Sherlock, gov’t mule, t-cell, Shania, Black Lung, Pep, YumYum, Swiffer, Haggis
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: good

WARMUP: normal

THE THANG: Tabata workout (1 minute on, 15 second rest), 2 rounds with a lap in between each group

SCOTT (staggered merkins, Caroline dry docks, OH press, twist merkins, tricep dips)
STAPP (squats, Turkish getups, Apollo ohnos, prisoner squats, pulse lunge)
CHAD (crunchy frogs, hollow body hold, APD’s, dead bugs)

:grapes:

April Fools

AO: iiipillars
Q: Grape
PAX: princessaurora, Go Fish, Shania, Canned Heat, t-cell, Pep, Haggis, Swiffer
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS: cold again

WARMUP:

While the origins of April Fool’s day are disputed, some believe it traces all the way back to Noah, when Noah sent the dove out from the ark on April 1 while there was still water all around, which was a foolish thing to do.

SSH
5 Burpees
SSH
4 Burpees
LBAC F
3 Burpees
LBAC F
2 Burpees
LBAC R
1 Burpee
LBAC R
Stretch
Mosey, but then stop every so often to do 10 merkins

THE THANG:

Circle up and do Webb Jacks
40 OH press, 10 merkins, 10 plank jacks
36, 9, 9, etc.

Partner up Dora
400 Flutters
300 OH Press
Switch partners midway through
200 O squats
100 Leg lifts
Partner runs backwards down and back on the field

Plank until failure

Mosey back to startex

MOLESKINE: don’t get distressed when life throws chaos at you

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Plankpril, Spring Fling, Brewsday, check slack

COT: prayers for Ms. Webb, Ms. Mullis, Sam Savage, kids’ mental health, wisdom in prioritizing life’s responsibilities

:grapes: