Welcome Back Struggle 004

AO: thestronghold
Q: SalPal , Chunks
PAX: bluemule, Dan and Dave, Wham-O, Sanctions, Papa Bear, Chunks, greyalbum, Crawlspace, Not-a-Sport, catfish, Penny Loafers, Shocker (Mark Holmes), Barney, toga, Decaf, Bobby Hill, Ice Box, Pick Me, Pope, Road Trip, Wendy’s, Stir Fry, Ambassador (F3 Annapolis), Mutt, Stage Dive
FNGs: None
COUNT: 26
CONDITIONS: Slightly moist.

WARMUP: A lot of side-shuffle hops and burpees, as it ought to be. Thanks to Chunks for getting the ball rolling.

THE THANG: 3 Groups rotating through sprints, burpees, and planks on a 1 minute timer, with 5 seconds to rotate. T-Claps to Dan and Dave for decreasing sub-30 second splits on all his sprints.

10 burpee salute to the Strugglers as they rolled in at 0600 hours.

Close with planks/”watersplashers” for Mary.

MOLESKINE: Great chatter and attitude today, and glad to be out in support of the men doing this latest Struggle. High concentrations of HIM on the 4:13 campus today.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Struggle 005 date TBD.

COT: Lift up the men that took on the Struggle the last 16 hours.

Tortoise & Hare, Run #4

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Young and Restless, bluemule, Chunks, Right Said, Wham-O, Barney, Judy, Decaf, Wendy’s, Ice Box, Stir Fry, Road Trip, Bobby Hill, Mutt, Singlet, Touchback
FNGs: None
COUNT: 17
CONDITIONS: It is starting to get warm and humid. 66 degrees except by the barn where the temperature is noticeably cooler.

WARMUP: Road Trip was tapped to lead our warm up. While he switched up the order on us, he hit all the usual warmup exercises.

THE THANG: Partner up and RUN!! A great morning for a run. The F3 PAX were a huge source of encouragement to the 4:13 Strong men. For the first time ever, every 4:13 Strong man turned in a new Personal Best time! Thank you for all of the encouragement that you provided today.

MOLESKINE: Based on past experience, this is the hardest week of the 40 Day Challenge, not because we do anything different but because this is the week that things start to become a grind. The men have to dig deep and find some source of encouragement to keep pushing. Today, we saw 7 men who have done just that!

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Struggle 004 is this week. The 4:13 Strong Clay Shoot is this Friday. Spots are still available for anyone who would like to participate. DM me and I will get. you hooked up.

COT: Everything about the COT went in reverse order this morning, but we got it all in! It was a great start to the day at The Stronghold!

Tortoise & Hare, Run #3

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Chunks, Wham-O, Young and Restless, Right Said, Barney, Decaf, Judy, Salami, Wendy’s, Ice Box, Stir Fry, Road Trip, Practice?, Bobby Hill, Life Saver, Mutt, Singlet
FNGs: None
COUNT: 18
CONDITIONS: Perfect running weather – 66 degrees

WARMUP: The usual: SSH, Squats, IWs, Stretches, WMHs

THE THANG: Partner Up and RUN!! Find someone that will push you to get better and run with them. It worked…5 PRs this morning. Our “All In” time is improving…today we were All In at 34:30 leaving time for a Burpee Apocalypse with some Squats mixed in just for fun.

MOLESKINE: Improvements are a sign of hard work. Please keep encouraging the 4:13 Strong men as they figure out what it means to fight for change in their life.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Struggle 004 is next week. If interested one of the final spots, reach out to tampalibra.

COT: Prayers for continued wisdom, strength and endurance.

Fun & Games

AO: thestronghold
Q: Minnie Pearl
PAX: Wham-O, Purple Tiger, Right Said, Skeet, Young and Restless, bluemule, Barney, Decaf, Minnie Pearl, Mutt, Ice Box, Practice?, Stir Fry, Road Trip, Singlet, Bobby Hill, Wendy’s, Life Saver
FNGs: None
COUNT: 18
CONDITIONS: Beautiful

WARMUP: Nope

THE THANG: Gorilla Complex
-8 curls
-8 rows
-8 presses
-8 triceps extensions
-8 merkins
-short run
Perform 8X

To elevate and reward morale, we played several games along the way.
-Rochamburpees
-Duck Jousting (bluemule would probably have won if he wasn’t robbed)
-Bear Crawl/Broad Tump Tag
-Guantanamo

MOLESKINE: Blessed is the man who delights in the Law of the Lord

Psalm 1
Psalm 16:11
Psalm 37:4
Psalm 20:4
Psalm 17:14

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT: prayers for endurance, hope, peace, communication. Also prayers for the health of family members.

Tortoise & Hare, Run #2

AO: thestronghold
Q: Red Skull
PAX: Minnie Pearl, bluemule, Right Said, Decaf, Young and Restless, Wendy’s, Ice Box, Stir Fry, Road Trip, Practice?, Bobby Hill, Life Saver, Mutt, Singlet, Hoop Dreams
FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: 72 degrees and humid…our first warm run of the year!

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

THE THANG: RUN!! We got stopped by the train today and had to detour back around the white building. Now everyone knows the alternative route.

An overall great effort today resulted in 7 out of 9 4:13 Strong men setting a course PR!

MOLESKINE: Hard things get easier with more repetitions, so keep doing hard things.

COT: Prayers for strength, endurance and courage.

Cadence & Grisham

AO: thestronghold
Q: Ponzi , Ginger
PAX: Barney, Chunks, Ponzi, Purple Tiger, Young and Restless, Ginger, Decaf, bluemule, Wham-O, Right Said, Skeet, Red Skull, Practice, Gray Album, Pick Me, Lifesaver, Snuggie, Skud, Stir Fry, Roadtrip, Singlet, Mutt, Wendy’s, Bobby Hill, Icebox
FNGs: 7 Stir Fry, Roadtrip, Singlet, Mutt, Wendy’s, Bobby Hill, Icebox
COUNT: 25
Warmup (Ponzi on Q):
Started with the disclaimer — “Modify only as necessary, but we work to the standard.”
Talked through the importance of cadence — moving together, counting together, holding each other to a standard.
• First movement: Side Straddle Hops (SSH)
• Reps halted due to lack of unity → 3 burpee penalty
• Restarted but reps weren’t to standard → 5 burpee penalty
• Restarted again — this time, no unified count → 10 burpee penalty
• Fourth time was the charm: reps were clean, crisp, unified. 20 SSH IC.

Followed by:
• Imperial Walkers x10 IC
• Hillbillies x10 IC
• Merkins x10 IC (double time)

The Thang (Ginger on Q):
Grabbed blocks and moseyed to the court.
Partnered up in rows and columns for The Grisham WOD:
• Partner 1: Block Thrusters / Partner 2: Burpees → then swap
• Reps: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25
• Everyone held plank until the six was in

Then split into two groups:
• Each group had a leader and did movements in cadence together
• Group A: 20 Thrusters / Group B: 20 Burpees → then swap
• Reps: 20, 15, 10, 5 — all in cadence with group unity

Moseyed back, returned blocks, and circled up for COT.

Announcements:
• Brentwood Cookout – 5/22
• The Struggle 004 – 6/4

Prayers for Singlets mom and Ponzi dad for health and healing. Prayers for us as men to lead like we are meant to.

Moleskin:
We welcomed 7 FNGs — fired up to have the new 4:13 class in the gloom! Strong effort all around. We struggled, we led, we learned the standard together.
Iron sharpens iron. Let’s keep showing up.

SYITG,
Ponzi & Ginger