12 years strong

AO: iiipillars
Q: Grape
PAX: Haggis, t-cell, Swiffer, wardas1, Harbaugh, Pep, Two Face
FNGs: None
COUNT: 8
CONDITIONS: wet, but not too bad. Praises for the garage

WARMUP: normal stuff with shoulders

THE THANG: Silk- soft and smooth
S- 12 step ups (2 count)
I- 24 incline merkins
L- 24 Lt Dans
K- 12 Kill joys (burpees)
Run a lap and repeat (144 reps)

Linen- breathable
Dora with partner, down the parking lot and back
C- 100 Carolina Dry Docks
S- 200 Squats
G- 300 Gorilla humpers

Pearls- hard and unique
Dealer’s choice Mary

:grapes:

Unexpected Birthday

AO: iiipillars
Q: Michelin Man , t-cell
PAX: princessaurora, Pep, Grape, Michelin Man, t-cell, Haggis, Shania, Choo Choo, LorelaiG, Two Face, Priscilla, Harbaugh, Formica, Paw Patrol, Sour Dough
FNGs: 1 Sour Dough
COUNT: 15
CONDITIONS: pumpkin spice drops from Starbucks today y’all.

WARMUP: YHC handed the speaker to t-cell and then gave an unexpected birthday present in the form of my Q. Congrats t-cell. Make it up as you go.

THE THANG: t-cell ran us to the track where we did a lap and then did 46 Side Straddle Hops, followed by various stretches. t-cell then began to come into his own with 3 rounds of DIDs (30/15/10) with one lap around the track between each set.

t-cell followed with 4 rounds of 6 burpees each with a lap around the track between each set.

t-cell continued in fine form by lining the PAX up on the end line and running through sets of 46 of various sets of exercises, starting with drop squats and also featuring merkins, jump squats, lieutenant Dans, wide arm merkins, and other sundries, with a run down the field and back after each set.

t-cell then had the PAX proceed to sprint down the field and back followed by either 4 or 6 pullups to finish. YHC chose 4 pullups of substandard quality.

t-cell then finished his master class on impromptu birthday Qs with 46 perfect form Happy Crunchy Frogs In Cadence. Wow. Even princessaurora stopped partway through.

MOLESKINE: YHC and princessaurora cooked up this surprise birthday present (with no approval from Grape). It just goes to show y’all, “If you stay ready, you don’t have to get ready.” Thank you t-cell for the unexpected birthday Q and for introducing me to F3 seven (eight?) years ago.

3 is a magic number

AO: iiipillars
Q: Grape
PAX: YumYum, Swiffer, princessaurora, Two Face, Haggis, Shania, t-cell, wardas1, Canned Heat, Will Norton, LorelaiG, Harbaugh, Tigger, Doogie, Swan Song, Husky of Wall Street, Paw Patrol
FNGs: 3 Swan Song, Husky of Wall Street, Paw Patrol
COUNT: 20
CONDITIONS: love to be with my friends

WARMUP: Good mornings
SSH
Low and slow squats
LBAC
Stretch

THE THANG: Groups of 3

300 squats
300 merkins
Run the field as the timer

One lap as a group

300 American hammers
300 dry docks
Run the field as the timer

One lap as a group

300 dips
300 WW1’s
Run the field as the timer

Sprint-off

Back to circle for 5MoM

:grapes:

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.

Off campus : does @princess aurora know

AO: iiipillars
Q: Pep
PAX: Grape, Black Lung, Choo Choo (F3 Spring Hill), Swiffer, princessaurora, t-cell, Two Face, Formica
FNGs: None
COUNT: 9
CONDITIONS: warm and humid

WARMUP: none

THE THANG: deck of death
– suits
– hearts: lieutenant Dan
– Diamond: hand release merican
– spade: windshield wiper
– Club: burpee
– run every five cards

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– July 4 convergence at handsomizer
– June 27: nantan ceremony at green machine

COT:
– prayer: grape going with family to California. Nervous mom is the hard thing
– Praise: pa’s dog survived a weekend in the crate

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:

Field Day

AO: greenmachine
Q: Firefox
PAX: Betty Ford, Shania, moneyshot, Sherlock, Pep, t-cell, Young and Restless, Esposa, Matador, LB, Steam, High Heels
FNGs: None
COUNT: 13
CONDITIONS: Perfectly fine

WARMUP: PAX split up into 2 groups and did a rice bag run twice around the track. We welcomed :downrange: posters from Knoxville Steam and High Heels during the run. t-cell was missing his LBAC.

THE THANG: With the school year coming to a close, in the grand tradition of I Have No Idea Why, we held our very own haphazard Field Day celebration. If you haven’t witnessed or been a part of one of these, everyone gathers and participates in random events. Sometimes there are winners, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Part 1: Partner Races – PAX partnered up, starting at the end zone and raced down to mid-field and back.
– Race 1 – Wheelbarrow (with partners swapping places at mid-field)
– Race 2 – Leap Frog
There were winners! Hurray!

Part 2: Rice Bag Relays – PAX split into 4 groups. 1 member of each team traveled 30 yards and back with the rice bag, handing off to the next member of the team. All others held a plank.
– Race 1 – Run
– Race 2 – Run
– Race 3 – Run
– Race 4 – Broad Jumps (which maybe were more like Bunny Hops)
There was a bit that I did not explain well at all in which a winning team’s cone was pushed back 5 yards as a “reward”… but yeah, we kinda abandoned that part. Also, Pep and t-cell turned this into a contact sport.

Also, some teams won! Some more than others.

Part 3: Rice Bag Relay – Even Ricier
The 4 teams consolidated to two teams and did a zipper relay with the ricebag. PAX got on their six, alternating position so that the person next to you was facing toward you (like teeth in a zipper). 1st team member did a WW1 with the rice bag overhead and passed to the next team member, then ran down to the end of the line. Teams passed the rice bag this way to the 30yd line and back.

Part 4: Wind Screws Everything Up
We attempted to play “Flip the Cone” but, in addition to having one less player, the wind was flipping over any upside-down cone. So, the first round was ended prematurely. We modified to scatter short cones in the middle of a 30x15yd play area. Teams lined up at opposite ends and had to travel to pick up a (single) cone and bring it (a single cone) back to their starting line. We did 2 or 3 rounds of this with bear crawls and another round with murder bunnies.

Part 5: Pick up all the crap I brought

Part 6: Back at Startex, 20 V-ups and 30s of a hollow body hold

MOLESKINE:
– Some poor explaining on my part and some unfortunately windy conditions. But we were flexible and everyone was a good sport. Except that t-cell guy.
– Loved getting to use the big field and track. Hopefully I’ll be invited back to Q again!
– I did not have blue ribbons. Instead we had donut holes. Thanks to Betty Ford for bringing the coffee.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: N/A

COT:
– Matador family health scare
– YHC dealing with workforce reductions on team

Impossible/Manly/Murder Mile

AO: greenmachine
Q: Focker
PAX: Betty Ford, Toothless, SalPal, Pep, Cowboy, Pole Dancer, Works for a Guy, t-cell, Black Lung, moneyshot, Young and Restless, Esposa, Matador, Shania, Topanga
FNGs: None
COUNT: 16
CONDITIONS: Moist

WARMUP: Drive your car to the workout

THE THANG:
400 meter burpee broad jump :burpee:
400 meter lunge :leg:
400 meter bear crawl :teddy_bear:
400 meter “run” :man-running:

MOLESKINE: -the bear crawl makes the burpee broad jump feel like the lunges
-Works for a Guy unsurprisingly took the crown
-everyone was under one hour!
-coffee, Purity chocolate milk, and Donut Den treats provided (thanks Toothless!)
-one of my new favorite traditions is this horrible mile
ANNOUNCEMENTS: see ya next year!

COT: I think everyone wrestled with their respective higher power during the bear crawls

Holy Week 2025

AO: greenmachine
Q: sooner
PAX: t-cell, Grape, Pep, Matador, moneyshot, Black Lung, Esposa, Betty Ford, Cowboy, Focker
FNGs: None
COUNT: 11
CONDITIONS: Glorious and Maundy

WARMUP: dynamic

THE THANG:

“AI can’t make this up”

Palm Sunday – Palm Swap – split up into two groups, line up in plank on opposite sides of the field, last pax sprints to front of opposite line until both lines meet in the middle

Stations of the cross – 12s: star jumps and crunchy frogs; travel is beak crawl/crawl bear; 10 yards

Maundy Thursday – Washing of the feet; stairs

Good Friday – lunge walk and 2 x double plank burpees at 10 yards; 60 yards

Holy Saturday – ring of fire

Easter – up downs to “christ the lord is risen today”

MOLESKINE:
Easter

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Grape is singing in his church choir and he invites you to come see him sing. He’s a tenor.

COT: Matador’s international students event

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: