Running Through the Wet Grass

AO: the-knoll
Q: Sooie
PAX: Ex-Pat, G-string, Malibu, Pebbles, The Merchant, Sooie, Lunch Lady, Josh Stevenson (Sparrow)
FNGs: 1 Josh Stevenson (Sparrow)
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: Perfect temperature. A bit damp.

WARMUP:
Motivators from 5
Imperial Walkers
“Keep em Up!”:
Shoulder taps
Side shoulder taps
Front shoulder taps
Scissor chops
Horizontal scissors
BAC
BBAC
Don Quixotes
OYO stretch/shakeout

Might as well knock out today’s 2 minute plank

THE THANG:
5 cones between the road and the tree line across the knoll. Began at the road. Exercise and MOT to each cone was different.
Sprint to cone 1: 20 burpees
Crab crawl to cone 2: 20 Lt. Dans
Crawl crab to cone 3: 10 breakdancer merkins
Mosey to cone 4: 30 Spicolli’s
Bear crawl to cone 5: 10 plank rotations
Mosey to tree line: 2 minute active recovery.

COMPETE FOR CONES:
first PAX to pick up the cone got a point. Sprint to cone 1 then tree line, cone 2 then tree line, cone 3 then tree line…you get the idea.

Mosey to the playground. Split into 2 groups. Group 1 dead hangs. Group 2 lunges to the road and mosey’s back. Swap.

Close out with some recovery breath work. Pebbles contributed to the air quality during this phase. :dash:

MOLESKINE:
Proverbs 24:5-6
A wise man is full of strength,
and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

These verses have meant a lot to me and have grown more as I have spent more time in F3. Thank you men for the encouragement, support, and camaraderie!

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Plankril continues
G-string will be conductor at pain-train tomorrow. Be sure to punch your ticket!
The knolliversary is coming up 5/2. More on that later

COT:
The Merchant was the 6 and shared what F3 meant to him.
Prayers requested and lifted.

Your story matters

AO: the-knoll
Q: morning star
PAX: Wolfpack, Siri, The Merchant, Ex-Pat, El Capitan, morning star, Malibu, Pebbles, Bumble bee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS: delightful and the rain held off

5:30am – welcome and disclaimer

WARMUP:
YHC loves motivators so much that I asked a PAX to lead a round since I couldn’t die to my Achilles recovery. El Capitan stepped up.

Motivators followed by lazy imperial walkers, little baby arm circles, and something else I can’t remember.

THE THANG:
Part 1
30 rounds of 10 seconds of work / 20 seconds of active recovery:
1. hinge from knees / neck mobility
2. hard style plank + super slow push up / rocking
3. super slow Freddy mercuries / egg rolls

YHC demoed the excerccises and then had to pre-evac Bumble bee home.

Part 2:
Wolfpack stepped in and led the pax in:
Alternating between Low Slow Squat and Low Slow Merkin.

– 20 reps, 10 second rest of both
– 15 reps, 15 second rest of both
– 10 reps, 20 second rest of both
– 5 reps with 5 second hold, 25 second rest of both

Part 3:
YHC returned and led PAX through originally planned thang 1. Swapped recovery and work time for last round (20 seconds work / 10 seconds active recovery)

Mary:
– Max plank for those doing plankpril.
– Flow core work along with low slow squats and slow merkins, ground movement (cat crawl, baby crawl), lots of rocking

MOLESKINE:
– I find that when I do “inner work” it cones in rounds … work that is slow and methodical, then a rest, then another round of work that may vary in intensity, then rest. If I don’t take time to actively recover I sputter and burn out. This applies to all areas of life.
– I like being able to play with the creativity of these workouts to reinforced things I’m learning and practicing in my day to day. Appreciate the PAX for engaging in these mini experiment and / learning labs.
– I’ll be coming back to this topic of our stories when I Q at pain-train in a couple weeks.
– Thank you to Wolfpack and the PAX for continuing the BD while I had to leave. Am continuously encouraged by how powerful shared leadership is. Let’s keep practicing it and demonstrating it in our day to day outside the gloom.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– plankpril continues, get out in public and take some photos
– Good meat and fellowship at Chunks place, check 2ndf for details
– Drop into pain-train this Friday, Wolfpack is leading growth phase ramp up to official launch on 5/10
– Keep inviting men you know, grab a business card if it helps to leave them with something tangible

COT:
YHC reflected on the peaks and valleys of his life, shared some. Encouraged the PAX to reflect on their story and find ways to celebrate and honor it, even the touch painful scenes.

Here are some things to consider:
– What are the most beautiful moments of my life?
– What are the most broken moments of my life?
– What are the highs and what are the lows?
– Who are the people that have had the impact impact on who I am today (even those that hurt or abused me)?

Here is the why behind this (quote from the Intentional Father by Jon Tyson):

“The goal here is to begin to get a sense of your own story, have awareness of the moments that have defined you,and remember the people who have shaped you. “”It’s important to come to terms with your own story. “”[Victor] Frankl said there’s something powerful about stepping back, gaining an objective distance from your own story, and observing the things that have made you who you are.”
YHC used to avoid his story, even despise it. It’s only recently that he’s come to explore it and honor it. That work (and it’s hard work) has led to much acceleration.

We ended with a ball of man with “honor” on 3.

It takes movement … so, move!

AO: the-knoll
Q: morning star
PAX: Sooie, Wolfpack, Siri, morning star, Right Said, El Capitan, Merchant, Malibu, Ex-Pat, Pebbles, Big Red (2.0), Bumble Bee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 12
CONDITIONS: low 40s and not too bad

5:30 – welcome to the knoll, where 2.”a are always welcome. Took a moment to appreciate the birds.

Mosey to the flood monument bench

WARMUP:
Circle up for Lazy imperial walkers, all arm movements balanced on one leg (alternate to other leg when you lose balance): LBCs, reverse LBCs, put your glasses on, take your glasses off, jimmy goes to Egypt, slow merkins, low slow squats

THE THANG:
30 rounds of 5 seconds of work, 25 seconds of active recovery, alternating between merkins and jump squats (or modification).
– roll after merkins, before getting up
– lots of variations of active recovery and silly interactions after squats

Mosey to the playground, find a bar and do a max habg, mosey back and plank to wait for six.

YHC remembered the disclaimer…

Repeat 30 rounds.

Mary:
– Alternate crab walk and cat/baby crawl back to playground.
– Baby rocking to wrap up

MOLESKINE: I’m a leadership and personal development geek. I love thinking about it and practicing it. I enjoyed sharing some thoughts on it today. Remember that to bless simply means to find good and call it out. Don’t forget to bless yourself as you practice blessing. It’s a skill. I also enjoyed all the laughter and horse play during our active recovery. Joy is also worth practicing.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– plankril today is 1min 16 seconds
– 5 mile Saturday run to support Richland creek, meets at Richland park, see Right Said for details

COT:
– Counts, names and announcements
– The founders of F3 thought they men functioned best when they were aware of and connected to something bigger than themselves
– Took a moment of silent reflection to connect with personal SkyQ … consider someone you’re close to, picture their face, what might be one thing you could do to deepen your connection? Commit to doing that today
– YHC blessed the PAX to go forth and practice bless today
– Poured ginger tea as YHC shared on leadership (see below)

Here is a framework for personal acceleration:
– draw a y and x axis … the y axis represents your motivation: who are you serving? Bottom is you, top is others … the x axis represents type of action. The left is responding (following or participating) the right is initiating (leading)
– bottom left quadrant is participating to serve yourself
– top left is participating to serve others
– Top right is leading to serve others
– bottom right is leading to serve yourself
– growth is recognizing what quadrant you tend to be comfortable in and then considering moving to another quadrant to practice something you may not be as comfortable in
– The key to maturity is to keep moving through the quadrants to be well practiced in all, there’s no “bad” expression here

Wolfpack encouraged the PAX to make their comfort spot with an x.

YHC encouraged the PAX to consider a growth edge: challenge yourself to do something you don’t normally do. That may be initiating or participating. That maybe to shift your focus to yourself or to others. Honor to each man in his unique journey. We all bring a contribution that is valuable.

Put your back into it!

AO: the-knoll
Q: G-string (Eli Kresta)
PAX: morning star, Pebbles, Siri, The Banker, Sooie, El Capitan, Wolfpack, Ex-Pat, @Link, @Bumblebee
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS:
Warmer than Tuesday but still brisk.

WARMUP:
– windmills, imperial walkers, wmh, gm
– Indigenous People’s run with football around the field
– Shoulder warmup

THE THANG:
Two people per station. Three rounds.
– Station 1: sandbag swings
– Station 2: pull-ups jump up and 3-count down
– Station 3: log floor to ceilings
– Station 4: lunges to the street and back
– Station 5: plank hold

MOLESKINE:
On Tuesday we talked about the GK Chesterton quote. Today I wanted to talk about our specific role as fathers. Whenever God the Father called someone in the OT, it led to an adventure. Moses brought his people out of Egypt, Abraham left his country and his family, David went up against Goliath, etc.
Part of our role as fathers is to provide our children with adventure in the context of safety. Even if you don’t believe in God or the bible, this is a biological fact. The role of fathers in hormonal development of their children is different than that of mothers and cannot be easily replaced. Fathers who engage in rough and tumble play in a adventurous (but controlled) manner have children who are better able to stand up to challenges and face adversity. Fathers are more influential on early language development because we often use higher level language with our children. Fathers even have an epigenetic effect on protein synthesis and gene expression. What we do matters.
In light of that, I am looking for ways to provide adventure and new challenges for my family. Introducing my daughter to the world one experience at a time.

If you want to read a little more on the science behind the unique role of fathers, this is a good article to start with and its references.
www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-anthro-091908-164334

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– That mile is coming next week at Green Machine. The knoll will continue as regularly scheduled
– Plankril is coming. One minute plank on the first and add 6 seconds every day.

COT:
Intentions were offered and prayers were said.

Sawing Logs

AO: the-knoll
Q: G-string (Eli Kresta)
PAX: Malibu, morning star, Pebbles, El Capitan, Aflac, Sooie, @Bumblebee, @Iowa
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS:
Cold. Where did the Spring go???

WARMUP:
(bonus warmup of unloading the logs from my truck)
– Good mornings and WMH
– Inchworm to merkin
– BAC
– Back-BAC
– Modified Welsh Dragons

THE THANG:
THANG 1
Pair up. Grab a log. 3 Rounds of the following
X20 broad jump burpees
X20 shoulder presses
X20 squats
Lap to Backstop and back

Thang 2
Two Rounds of the following
X20 Derkins
X20 Bulgarian Split Squats

Mary
American hammers with ball
WW1s
Hollow hold

MOLESKINE:
“The most extraordinary thing is the world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.” – GK Chesterton
In a world full of chaos, broken families, and almost no respect for life, holding your family close really is becoming uncommon. We are not the norm, but, in all honesty, we should be. How often do I see the little moments with my wife and daughter as extraordinary. Are those moments where I’m tired and grumpy turned heroic when I can be a good father? For those of us who are Christians, we believe in a God who called people on epic adventures. But if you read closely, every epic story is centered around families, and the ones that end best, involve families that stick together and love each other well.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
THAT mile is coming soon
April marks the beginning of Pre-Hab at the Knoll. Come 15 minutes early for extra stretching and warming up.

COT:
Intentions were mentioned and prayers were said.

Creating a 4F AO

AO: the-knoll
Q: Hair Band
PAX: Sooie, morning star, Wolfpack, Siri, Malibu, Ex-Pat, Pebbles, Merchant, Bumblebee
FNGs: None
COUNT: 10
CONDITIONS: hummid

WARMUP:
50 SSHs
Arm circles
Air press
Michael phelps

THE THANG:
Spread out into Teams & stations

Push station
Skull crushers 20
Carolina dry docks 20
Elbow tap push ups 10
Rotate

Pull station
Pullups 10
Rows 15
Rotate

Core station
Supermans 20
V-ups 20
Ukrainian hanmers 20
Rotate

Burpee freeze tag

MOLESKINE:

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Plankpril coming up soon, check 1st F channel
– Murder mile coming, check green machine

COT:
– everyone shared a prayer request, work, families, deaths, travels

Thanks y’all! So happy to have lead this morning, it was an honor and privilege!

Rock on,

Hair Band

Bring Your Own Kid Workout at The Knoll

AO: the-knoll
Q: Wolfpack , morning star, Sooie
PAX: Ex-Pat, El Capitan, AAA, Three Stooges, Merchant, DB, Pebbles, Firefox, 2.0’s:  Big Red, Link, Bumblebee, Tonks, FishBiscuit, AwesomeAxolotl, Birdman (2.0), Wildflower (2.0)
FNGs: 2 Birdman (2.0), Wildflower (2.0)
COUNT: 19
CONDITIONS: Warm with a sprinkle

WARMUP: stretching and motivators led by Bumblebee and Morningstar

THE THANG:
Thang1: 11’s
Burpees on one side, Big boy sit-ups on the other
Bunny hops one direction, Bear crawl the other

Thang 2: Old school movie time
Split up in pairs (Dads and 2.0)
One pax is the VCR
One pax is the Remote
Start opposite of one another. The VCR is doing the exercise while the Remote controls the speed. If the remote is running forward, VCR goes fast. If remote is running backwards, VCR goes slow. If remote pauses, the VCR holds the current position. Switch places for 60 seconds on/60 seconds rest.

Movies watched:
– Merkins
– Squats
– Big boy sit-ups

Thang 3: Infection!
2.0s were the infected and ran around tagging PAX to infect them. Three rounds with alternating movement types each round.
R1: Pax has to run backwards
R2: Pax has to run sideways
R3: Pax has to skip

Thang 3: Bear Tag Royal
All pax in Bear crawl. If you get your hand slapped your out and have to stand on the side and do your exercise of choice until the end (didn’t see any burpees?)

I believe FishBiscuit and AwesomeAxolotl were our champions!

MOLESKINE: Criss-cross-applesauce!

Thank you Morningstar for sharing a delightful message. A reminder to all 2.0s to encourage and share delight in every action. And a reminder to us dads to seek out and nourish that delight in our 2.0s.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

COT: 1-2-3 Delight!

SLAMBALLY’ALL

AO: the-knoll
Q: Sooie
PAX: AAA, DB, morning star, Pebbles, Sooie, Wolfpack, Bumblebee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
CONDITIONS: old man winter not dead yet

WARMUP:
Motivators from 5
Yes/No/maybes 5
BAC 15
BBAC 15
Don Quixote 10
WMH OYO
Good Morning OYO
Caboose is loose with the slam ball around the knoll. Slamball gets fumbled, 5 slow merkins ended up doing 20 all together

THE THANG:
THANG 1:
Iron Mikes 10x
Side lunges 10x
Shoulder taps 10x
Climber taps 10x
Derkins MAX
Single Leg Bridges 10x
Side Bridges 10x
Squat hold for the 6’s the mosey around the backstop.
REPEAT 3x

THANG 2:
Hangs: 1 minute on 30 seconds off (3x)

THANG 3:
Ultimate Capture the Slamball
Get tagged, turnover possession.
Slamball hits the deck/fumbled, 5 burpees

MOLESKINE:
Faithfulness in the mundane will echo forward for centuries. Recounted a small excerpt from the autobiography of John G. Patton (1824-1907) about his relationship with his father and when he left home for seminary. His father was a sock maker and they lived in a small village in Scotland:

My dear father walked with me the first six miles of the way. His counsels and tears and heavenly conversation on that parting journey are fresh in my heart as if it had been but yesterday; and tears are on my cheeks as freely now as then, whenever memory steals me away to the scene…His lips kept moving in silent prayers for me; and his tears fell fast when our eyes met each other in looks for which all speech was vain! We halted on reaching the appointed parting place; he grasped my hand firmly for a minute in silence, and then solemnly and affectionately said :
“God bless you, my son! Your father’s God prosper you, and keep you from all evil !”
Unable to say more, his lips kept moving in silent prayer: in tears we embraced, and parted.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– biscuit run Saturday, March 2
– Bring Your Kid to Workout day at #the-knoll Tuesday, March 5
– Terrible mile: Thursday, March 28

COT:
Closed with prayer.

Ten Trees!

AO: the-knoll
Q: Wolfpack
PAX: AAA, The Banker, G-string (Eli Kresta), Pebbles, morning star, El Capitan, Sooie, Bumblebee (2.0), Big Red (2.0), Link (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Cold enough for gloves, yet warm enough for short sleeves… very confusing times we live in…

WARMUP: Mosey to stop sign then a series of stretching exercises led by Link.

THE THANG:
Thang 1
Huddle around the River Table to complete a series of exercises done in reps of 10. After each set of 10 you must run and touch a tree.

Round 1: Squats (5reps) Merkins (5reps) x10 sets
Round 2: Iron Mikes (5reps) Dips (5reps) x10 sets

Partnered up for the next two rounds:
Round 3: Picolis until partner returns from touching a tree x10 sets
Round 4: Shoulder taps until partner returns from touch a tree x10 sets

Thang 2
6 rounds of 1 minute freeze tag.
If you get tagged you must stand with legs apart performing Overhead claps until someone crawls between your legs to unfreeze you. All Pax got a chance to be “it”

Mary
LBCs and Flutter kicks

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Lots coming up! I encourage everyone to check out Toothless’s latest post in General for everything.

Tuesday 3/5 – Take Your Kid to Workout Day here at The Knoll… great chance to share our passion for the three Fs with your family, friends, Pax who haven’t come out in a while, and PAX who haven’t experienced the beatdown that is a 2.0 workout.

COT:
Sometimes showing up is enough.

AMMAP

AO: the-knoll
Q: Wolfpack
PAX: Sooie, El Capitan, Pebbles, Malibu, morning star, Bumblebee (2.0)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 7
CONDITIONS: B-E-A-uuuutiful

WARMUP: Mosey around. Open up them hips. Stretch those shoulders.

THE THANG:

As Many Merkins As Possible!
90seconds work/60seconds rest

Merkins
Dips
Run to backstop
Diamond Merkins
Carolina Dry Docks
Run to table
Incline Merkins
Squats
Run to the big tree
Flux Capacitor Merkins
Iron Mikes
Run to playground
Ring of Fire Merkins
Lazy Imperial Walkers

Mary: WW1, Box Cutters, LBCs with stretch’s in between

MOLESKINE: prayers for PAX health.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Just a Mile at Greenmachine March 28th. Biscuit run coming up.

COT: It’s possible to take responsibility to lead while also asking for help. Each of the none Merkin workouts were called out by the PAX who came out. There’s no reason so go at it alone fellas!