Author: Dr Tryhard

YHC awoke early to the sound of raindrops on the tin roof. Exhaustion after taking hospital call last night was screaming to go back to sleep, but was properly ignored in anticipation of a VQ by Boardwalk, who has been a loyal attendee this last month of Ground Zero. At the age of 10, and still carrying a bit of childhood weight, Boardwalk is on the cusp of leaving childhood behind, and it can be seen in the way he carries himself, all the more since joining F3 Ground Zero. He’s gone from being the six to being the servant leader going back for the six, and YHC was super proud on Thursday to hear him volunteer for the Q today. What a stud! YHC left the headlocking and Q-planning up to him, and he delivered an awesome beatdown! This kid LOVES merkins. He also learned a hard lesson today that what folks say is not always what they mean, and with just his brother and YHC in attendance, he’s already re-strategizing his headlocking for next time. From the rainy Easter-weekend gloom of PNG’s Western Highlands, Yours Always, DTH

F3 PNG’s one and only and still unofficial AO “Ground Zero” is rapidly accumulating FNG’s of the 2.0 variety. Unlike other 3rd world sweatshops utilizing child manual labor, this one is voluntary and free and ends with a COT. A few adults corralled the gaggle of a 9 umpa lumpas into completing a variety of warm-up exercises, running down and up the gravel hill with various movements, plenty of mary, running around the nursing college, carousel plank walking, a mini-Dora on the field, a solid dose of wall-work, and variable chain reps. We welcomed an Australian friend nicknamed “Kanga”, a shirtless little brother of Mojang nicknamed “Sixpack”, and the Stewardson girls nicknamed “Narwhal” and “Athena”. A great time was had by all and we closed with a solid word of prayer for the mission work ahead of us for the day. Interesting to see how this thing is growing, and always happy for the company – no matter who it is. 🙂 Yours in the Field, DTH

After getting knocked down with a nasty cold last week and missing two bootcamps (many thanks to Mountain Oyster for covering the Q!), YHC got back on the horse this morning with a slightly lighter-than-usual recovery Q. Joined by Messi and Boardwalk, then later Tiny TRex, the PAX did a fair number of core exercises, hit the hill once with variable movement exercises, completed a triple check, and also some other fun things under the big tent where they’ve set up a stage in preparation for Holy Week services that will go every night Wed-Sat. God is good all the time, and YHC is so thankful to be nearly done with the viral crud. Make it a good one brothers! ~DTH

Eddie Money hailed the dawn light with a solo tribute of this classic ballad, and 10 minutes into a torturous beatdown loop, a second ticket was punched as Mountain Oyster joined in on harmony. The PAX stomped the usual chain railing upper body work and gravel hill leg work, but a Lindsay on the field took the main stage, with LBC’s and Merkins on either side and a unique movement exercise in between. Mosey for Hoedowns (and other wall work) on the concrete block, and then more Mary than Mtn Oyster could manage to close out the 45min set. Victorious start to a beautiful day in the Western Highlands of PNG, and just the kind of full body stretch this old man needed after pulling the ol’ low back in volleyball over the weekend. Two is better than one, so many thanks to MO for harmonizing. On repeat, DTH

Heavy rain pelting the tin roof of our missions house suggested I might be heading into a wet solo workout, but a few headlocks yesterday did the trick and five PAX (including one FNG) beat the temptation of the fartsack to take on a rainy beatdown. There were lots of core exercises under the awning, and variable lunging and running loops, all the while explaining the history/principles/credo/etc of F3 to our FNG, Dr Mel, who’s another doc here at Kudjip Station. Most significantly, Imelda is our first female PAX to join Ground Zero and she kicked the workout in the teeth! Her background is Melanesian and her name in the old language means garden-sun, so the PAX nicknamed her “Sunflower.” Welcome!!! Here’s to the PAX continuing to grow, and God being here with us in big ways. All for Him, DTH

0600 found YHC starting a veeeery slow solo warmerama having stayed up too late last night. There was at least one HC, so nothing exciting happened until Mountain Oyster arrived a few minutes later. It rained hard last night and the misty sunrise was a beautiful rosy orange glow as we ran down the gravel road hill, and went a little further than usual to a playground in Jordan Valley. A few rounds of upper body reps completed – pullups, derkins, dips – then variable movements and sprint back to the top where the small soccer field is. Polesmokers and oblique LBC burnout, then mosey to the gym’s concrete stoop for dirty hookups, donkey kicks, and wall sits + hoedowns. 0615, mosey back to the start point, to find NoGrass and Mojang waiting. Welcome!!! Back down the hill to the playground, stopping for a x10 burpee “breather” halfway there. Upon completion, hold Al Gore, and when we dropped to Helix there was quite a loud rip as Mountain Oyster’s shorts inseam chose the perfect moment to permit his mountain oysters some breathing room. The beatdown almost ended there with the amount of laughter and mumble chatter than ensued, but YHC prevailed and we continued to the playground for a quadruple check. Pullups, derkins, dips, and the moving partner runs across to the far end for x3 burpees before retuning to switch. x4 round completed. Variable movement back to the top, some preferring to run in FRONT of Mtn Oyster so as to avoid the “view”. ? Then 5 minutes of Mary to go: pole-smokers, kimchi twists, LBC’s, and partnered up for dying-boxing cockroaches… 0645 hits, that’s TIME! COT: numbers, names, NoGrass took us out in prayer. Solid beatdown today – WAY harder with good company to spur the imagination. Still waiting for one of these warriors to take the Q, but all good things with time. Yours, DTH

Boardwalk and YHC arrived on time and kicked off a warmerama accompanied by solid conversation about the majesty of the Highland’s sunrise, casting new rosy colors across the distant mountain ridge, a testament to God’s creation. We kept the HR up with a run down to the bottom lands, variable exercises and movements back to the top, where C30 met us – seems the fartsack had momentarily got the better of him. The PAX took on 11’s with 2-count ball dippers and merkins, with a run across the soccer field between reps. We then hit up the covered cement pad for 6 minutes of Mary, which is next to Tiny TRex’s house, and his dog’s barking got him out of bed to join us. Mosey around the buildings, variable movement exercises along the way, then another down&back on the unpaved hill road where we met up with Mountain Oyster out for a morning run – his assumption was if you miss the start time, you shouldn’t come – this misunderstanding was corrected and he joined us for the final 10 minutes of beatdown glory.

COT: Numbers x5, Namerama, Boardwalk closed us out with prayer.

NMS: The idea of being punctual does not particularly exist in the Highlands. So the hard start of 6am, even for the ex-pat missionaries seems to be a challenging concept. Also, the fartsack seems to have some extra power here. Had a great workout regardless, was happy to welcome more members as they turned up in their own time, and was really awed with the beauty of the dawn over distant misty mountains this morning. God is so good. Thanks for your prayers brothers – even with so much heartache in the hospital there is a wealth of rich experience to be embraced – and I am drinking deeply. ~DTH

Howdie from the Western Highlands of PNG! YHC had a crew of FIVE FNG’s come out this AM to sample the F3 fun they’d been hearing about, and as it would turn out, apart from my buddy Dr Mark, it was missionary boys aged 8-12 who joined us. YHC reviewed all the basics about F3 as we went through a solid warmerama, then gave them a beatdown tour of Ground Zero, down and up the gravel road hill with variable IC reps and movements, a bunch of Mary under the awning, a couple rounds of indigenous carousel planks with burpees, a solid triple check on the soccer field, and some final mary and stretching. YHC kept the momentum going but tapered the total beatdown level to suit the mostly youngin population. The boys loved it, and already word is spreading around Station that the Ground Zero workout is for anyone interested. In fact one of our female docs has asked to join us next week. So hey, come one come all, let’s get stronger together! Our FNG’s all participated in the nicknaming today, which included Dr Mark being nicknamed “NoGrass” for his bald pate (the Pigin word for hair is grass), his son Levi who likes Minecraft being named “Mojang”, the two Stewardson boys nicknamed “Messi” (loves soccer) and “Boardwalk” (loves board games, Monopoly), and a PNG boy who hangs with the missionary kids nicknamed “Tiny T-Tex”. Fun times has by all, and YHC is looking forward to seeing how this thing grows. Prayers always appreciated, DTH