Tag: 3rdF

3rd F meetups are service and faith related where faith is believing the world is bigger than just yourself

  • LABOR DAY 2026 COVERGENCE: BACK TO BATTEAU

    44 HIMs from near and far converged on one of RVA’s OG AOs for this year’s Labor Day Gathering. With many PAX jumping into the gloom of an unfamiliar AO, YHC brought in some experts of the craft to show everyone what this corner of the city has to offer.

    YHC arrived at 0615 only to shortly find Pigskin and House Party looking for a way in around the locked gates. Despite YHC’s best efforts to secure the AO ahead of time (a call was placed last week to confirm), RVA Parks & Rec’s finest slept in. Fortunately, our “hero” showed up at 0645 to allow the PAX park within spittin’ distance of the shelter.

    Top of the hour hit and the PAX forged over to Stone House Field.

    COT
    Welcome to Batteau, disclaimer, warm up with ascending burpee intervals:

    • SSHs (1 burpee)
    • DQs (2 burpees)
    • Imperial Walkers (3 burpees)
    • LBCs (4 burpees)

    Some broga, then split into 4 groups for stations (written in the order PAX rotated through with YHC):

    Wojo led — Mosey to Stone House Circle for a classic, completely plain Dora:

    • 100 Merkins
    • 200 LBCs
    • 300 Monkey Humpers
    • Pace car bear crawls (or walking lunges) to the stone beacon, mosey back NASCAR-style

    Mosey to the pickleball courts.

    Faceplant led — Popsicle Stick Scramble: one minute to explain the rules, then PAX paired up (encouraged to partner with someone new or from a different home AO) for nine one-minute rounds. One partner worked the called exercise while the other ran out, dropped a burpee, grabbed a stick, and returned — then switched. After three minutes, stealing opened up: 6 burpees bought you a stick off another team. Most sticks won — top team walked away with 11!

    Mosey to the endless steps

    Machismo led (will update later) — YHC only knows the whereabouts of Machismo’s station as “the stairs gauntlet and the gazebo.” Descriptions of “AWOL” have been thrown around.

    Mosey to the playground/roaming Mudslide station

    Mudslide led — working both the hills and the courts:

    1. Triple check: hand-released merkins, jump squats, run uphill
    2. Flutter kicks, Freddie Mercuries, run up and back
    3. 10 Lieutenant Dans, 25 tricep dips, 50 mountain climbers, 100 SSHs

    A final plank hold closed it out — ran out of time before a planned 4 corners on the tennis courts.

    BTTF with Faceplant leading the six: reverse crunches, flutters, and a dead man hang until time.

    Numberama, Namerama, YHC took us out.

    Prayers lifted for Speakeasy on his battle, Hitchhiker on the loss of his father, and Pin Prick, and others unnamed. Lift them up as they lean into understanding.

    Announcements

    • 9/11 Ruck at the Alamo, 8pm — see Slack or Crabgrass for details
    • IronPAX Challenge this Month at Timberwolf….. on Wednesdays!
    • 2nd Tuesday, 2nd F: Lunch tomorrow (9/8) at Joey’s Hotdogs in Innsbrook — High Noon

    A note on convergences

    Getting 44 HIMs to circle the wagons, PAX driving in from other AOs, everybody showing up ready to suffer together on a holiday morning. That doesn’t happen by accident. Thank you to fellow Qs Faceplant, Mudslide, and Machismo for bringing the thunder, to those who brought beverages and snacks, and to every HIM who rolled out of bed for this one instead of fartsacking. This is why we convergence. Hope y’all enjoyed this taste of one of the OG F3RVA AOs.

    And a special shoutout to YHC’s M, who this morning put YHC on a timer…. forcing YHC to be F3’s version of a first out Q. YHC showed up swimming pool soaked at re+forme in the Fan to scoop up the 2.0…. no coffee welcome and several odd looks from the tomatoes in her Pilates class. Guess Somebody had to circle the wagons while they found their centers.

    Thank for letting me lead, y’all. SYITG.

  • Cookies for Dinner

    YHC was solo for this edition of Breaking Bread due to poor communication on my part. I signed up but forgot to tell the M, so she planned a dinner with my extended family. I made it there but just a little late.

    Lasagna was made (heated) and paired with garlic bread, skipped the salad this time, and added some cookies for dessert. When the food was pulled out the nurse on duty noted that the residents had been asking about cookies. I mentioned that I could probably get them added to the next night’s menu as well and Upchuck delivered on the cookie request

    I have done Breaking Bread plenty of times and the residents are always diffferent but there is no lack of gratitude from them and the staff. This is a fairly easy way to support our community and those less fortunate that we are. We have a lot of guys that can provide help and should do what we can.

    If you didn’t see the Slack discussion earlier this month – let’s help Oyster fill the Q sheet for Breaking Bread – if you’re not sure when to sign up, make it your birthday month and give back to someone else. If you’re not sure about it ask around or team up with someone that’s done it before.

  • Chicken F3esta

    2 adult humans brought joy and a good meal to the Medical Respite Clinic. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to the man awaiting the promised cookies, the following might have happened:

    The Thang: Lots going on this weekend, so we opted for a Chicken F3esta-inspired evening of Peruvian chicken, rice, beans, yucca fries, iced tea, lemonade, and chocolate chip cookies.

    Mmm, mmm, mmm.

    F3 needs good men to step up, take on the challenge of a 3rd F, and deliver goodness to people trying to get right.

    Bring your M. Get your 2.0 some volunteer hours. And, make a real impact.

  • F3-The Perfect Example

    Arrival 0525 and several PAX members were getting after it with the ruck sacks!

    It was appropriate that Gumbo arrived first. He EH’d me 9 years, 4 months ago! Dressed in gym dyke, ready to work.

    With no watch or time keeper, YHC asked DK for time keeping help with some Garmin watches obviously not being synced up.

    0600—–half slaughter start……5 Burpees. Mosey to Carillon Circle. COP…..we did some exercises but YHC saw a big group. Mosey to The Lawn. GO TIME!

    Activity 1= Run the length of The Lawn. Every 25 yards or so, 25 merkins. Running back, 25 LBC’s every 25 yards.

    Activity 2= Dora. Partner up. 150 Merkins, 250 Squats, 350 SSH. Runner….up and around the Carillon.

    Activity 3=Partner Leg Toss. Each PAX member does 100 PLT’s. These were a beast!

    Mosey to the Pipeloop. Absolute must in the summer time!

    Activity 4= Triple Check, partner x 3. Squats, LBC’s, and of course, Runner on the pipeloop! But….ran out of time.

    Mosey back to The Flag!

    Numberama, Namerama,

    Announcements: Memorial Day Convergence, 0700 at Dogpile!

    No Show (FNG) has a national prayer group with his work friends. Working on linking F3 with his friends.

    YHC took us out.

    NMS:

    41 PAX at Dogpile is beautiful! YHC cannot express his words or feelings enough regarding the show of support and the love felt this morning. Vinny from C’ville, Hardywood from Amelia, and several other Brothers who have not seen Dogpile for a bit! Thank you to all Brothers who posted. Dogpile=Best AO Ever!!

    YHC has an important day coming up on Wednesday. I remember that first drive to Dogpile, 9 years and 8 months ago, and I saw Big Blue. The memories, van rides, cups of coffee, cold mornings, mumble-chatter, and most importantly, the friendships, have blessed my life and made me strive to be a better person! YHC cannot thank you Brothers enough!!

    The camaraderie we share in the gloom and on the AO is second to none. My cup is full and we got it all out this morning! YHC cannot think of a better example of fitness, fellowship, and faith!

    Thank you to Snuff and Kubota for making 2nd F possible!!Chick-Fil-A is always a hit. And of course we drank coffee-none left!!

    Loud and Proud,

    Flatline

  • At Least We Showed Up for Breaking Bread

    Two chefs loaded up and delivered a delicious meal in the latest edition of Breaking Bread, F3 RVA’s oldest continuously operating 3rd F (ok, we only have two 3rd F events…). Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to the jealous police officers watching the food zip past the 2nd Precinct, the following might have happened:

    Tacos

    Beef, lettuce, tomatoes, chips, beans, cheese, onions, and hard and/or soft shelled tacos were on the menu.

    But, with the weather seasonally warm and comfortable, several of the guests were late arriving back to the facility. 2 were served, one we hope had a safe trip to the hospital, and several were late.

    Numbers, names, and YHC took us out.

  • Ruckers get a Brazilian from The Flying Chad

    An elite squad of heavily-laden ruckers converged at Ruckhenge for the first leg of our OTB adventure. Before we could even leave the lot, an FNG-to-be chased us down to get the download on F3 and assured us he’ll be joining us soon. En route to the railroad track a second FNG-to-be stopped the march to also get our info. Seems daytime rucks might just be a great recruiting tool! We traveled a total of about 2.2 miles, and YHC felt very much like a sorry pack mule carrying a cooler of beverages in addition to the usual 50 pound ruck. But we arrived exactly on time at Machismo’s 12 acre paradise, and promptly dropped rucks and crushed a beer. 

    For the second part of our adventure, Machismo marched the PAX back into the woods and toward the railroad track where a number of old, mostly rotten, railroad ties were piled up. Dookie briefly danced with a copperhead, but no harm to either dangerous creature transpired. So two mostly whole railroad ties were shouldered, 3 men to a caber, and carried back to the ranch. We deposited the cabers next to Machismo’s log splitting arena, and took turns competing with splitting speed and maul VS axe. The clock face splitting for speed was particularly fun, and Machismo leaving the ground to split a gnarly bit was epic (see picture) – no wood can resist the power of The Flying Chad. We concluded our pre-dinner activities by being entertained with DTH and Machismo’s efforts to walk a giant wooden spool (see picture). 

    For our third quarter of this epic event, the PAX pulled up camp chairs, cracked beers, told stories, and watched the meat wizard (Machsimo) go to work. With a smaller number of PAX than expected, these lucky few HIM’s engorged themselves with triple portions of tomahawk lamb steaks, sandwiches of Brazilian-style steak & chimichurri on toasted baguette, and a couple massive steaks provided by Dookie. After devouring some of the meat Purple Rain asked if Machismo would have him for his wife, but he was quickly declined. The PAX got to meet the lucky M toward the end of our dinner and she agreed Machismo’s meat is the best. 

    For our final leg of the OTB adventure, Machismo (and his sweet dog) led a very jolly and stuffed band of ruckers back through the darkening woods to Rockaway, and then even remained with the PAX for the full return journey back to Ruckhenge. YHC was under quite a bit of weight, and found the return trip, all up hill, to be quite daunting. At the time of this writing, YHC is completely stiff and sore all over. But the PAX was very encouraging and all HIM’s completed the 2.5 miles trek back to Einstein safely. 

    If you’ve read this far, thank you. Even with many weeks to plan/prepare, not many PAX prioritized participating in this epic event, and it’s likely even fewer will choose to read about what we’ve accomplished out there. As with all things in life – you’ll get out what you put in. Be there next time fellas!  Yours AYE, DTH

  • All 3 F’s

    2 Pork Rinds emerged from the gloom for the not so mammoth of Mammoth Balls, but we made something of it! YHC says this because he promised a lot of equipment on deck for the workout, however he forgot to load it all up in the pick up. Next Week!
    Commando logged a couple miles of pre workout rucking in at the park!
    We borrowed the cones out in front of the park and lined them up across center football field for some ladder type exercises.

    Warmarama OYO for mumble chatter:

    • Deadman Hangs
    • Helicopters
    • Arm Circles
    • Ukrainian Soldiers
    • Wives
    • Leg Stretches

    The Thang

    • Ladders – 10 KB Reps at random on the Sideline. 10 Core Reps at every cone. After returning from 3 cones, PAX tosses frisbee as a MoT distance marker.
    • We preformed a various number of exercises including: bear crawls across the field, Weighted squats increasing by 10 reps every cone. Bus Driver MoT and SSH’s increasing by 10 reps at every cone.
    • The Beast – including Mountain Climbers, Merkins, Jump Squats, Superman’s, 2 Arm Curls.

    CoT – Numbers and Names

    Announcements- Family Ruck this coming Sunday at 14:00 meeting at Ruckhenge AO location, Gelati afterward.
    Let’s continue to EH some men into coming out to F3. “Give it away”

    Prayer Requests- Commando’s good friend Tim was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s , prayers for Tim and his family and friends. Per Handshake, Prayers for this little girl Charlotte 11 yrs old with stage 4 cancer and her parents,These are constant reminders of how fragile life truly is on this earth.

    Commando closed us out in a great prayer.

    Lastly, If someone is on your mind, don’t hesitate to check in with them and let them know your thinking about them and you’ve got their 6.


  • Conquering Tryhard at Handicamp

    10 gloom studs assembled for a refreshing ride on the Forge pain train, with YHC digging back in the annals of historic novelty for a nonstop high rep whoopin – as follows:

    The THANG: 

    MORNING CALL:

    • Mosey the latecomers loop and end up back at the Mobile Taco Pullup Station
    • PAX plank while taking turns doing 5 pullups on the bar, each PAX declaring their nickname with gusto and the PAX repeating

    SLAUGHTER LIGHT POLES:

    • Starting at the flag, stop at every light pole going down Sheila Lane to the Culdesac, and at each light pole complete x5 Squats AND x5 Merkins

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Circle up in the Culdesac
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Warm-up Reps IC, including the infamous 8-count “DTH” (Dolly, Toe touch, Heels to Heaven)

    CATCH ME IF YOU CAN:

    • Partner up, runner Bernies while chaser completes x3 Burpees then sprints to switch
    • Stop at the “handicamp” ramp

    THE GREAT WALL OF TRYHARD: 

    • Climb the 8-10’ stone retaining wall, safely, for those PAX feeling comfortable doing so. If not, either spot from the bottom or help out at the top. 

    NEW GLORY RAMP:

    • 1st Half – Bear Crawl
    • 2nd Half – Lunge

    JERKIN GYM:

    • NEW Partners, each completing reps, for three rounds total
    • x10 Dips (feet held)
    • x10 Cliffhanger Merkins (feet held)
    • x10 Jerkins (feet held)

    DORA:

    • NEW Partners assemble at the stairs
    • x100 Heels to Heaven
    • x200 LBC’s
    • x300 Flutters (2-ct)
    • Moving partner Tooth Fairies the stairs and runs the loop back around to switch

    Beeline Mosey BTTF for COT:

    • Counterama # 10
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer – specifically lifting up Scram’s brother in law with new esophageal cancer diagnosis and Dookie sharing about his son’s teacher who suddenly passed 

    NMS:  Solid PAX to run through some of our favorite DTH routines. TClaps to these Forge studs embracing the suck and conquering all these COT’s with great enthusiasm and effort. While bearcrawling the handicap ramp (AKA hadicamp) Snuff noted the brutal hear crawl was better than needing it for a wheelchair. This sentiment of gratitude for the strength and health we enjoy was rolled into the sober reality during COT that none of us can count on tomorrow, and we all ought to do all we can for the time we have today – seek and give forgiveness, put others needs before your own, stop to enjoy the beauty and blessing of moments and margins. Lovely coffeerama followed courtesy of Snuff, with excellent discussion about our 3rd F topics of Prayer and Study. We are better when connected with each other and with a greater power’s accountability and guidance of the What-What. The joyful grand finale on the morning was Scram agreeing to VQ this Saturday at Bon Iron. Let’s GO!!! Yours AYE! ~DTH

    Announcements (SEE SLACK!)

    • *Scram VQ* this Sat (3/21) at Bon Iron
    • 3/21 Kickers Game Home Opener
    • 3/29 Family Ruck (2pm Ruckhenge)
    • 4/11 OTB Ruck + BBQ (Machismo’s)
    • Weekly: Forge Coffee + QSource
    • Monthly: Breaking Bread, Bridge
    • SEPT 26 GROW RUCK! (Registration Link:
    https://event.freedom-ops.fit/gte-74)

  • A few days down south fills the cup

    The January Friends of Barnabas (FOB) team headed down to Honduras mid Jan. After an early flight and connection in Miami we arrived in San Pedro Sula at 2:30p. Passports and customs were a breeze, there are definite improvements in the airport. Traffic was heavy but we made it to our base in Pena Blanca by 700p CT. A long day given the 3am ET wakeup. Sunday was team building and prep for the week ahead.

    Each day during the week, we start at 620a with a devotion before breakfast and then again after dinner. When we head to the communities and arrive by 9a, we set up the pharmacy and the medical, dental, vision, and physicial therapy stations. Deworming, vitiamins, and height and weight for children are set up next to the intake area. We see an average of 40 families and are on the road by 4p and finished with dinner, devotions, and ARR by 8p.

    This time, because of the epic storm Fern (snow is still meltling nearly 3 weeks later) we decided that the team needed to return a day early to beat the storm and avoid being stuck away from home. This was a good call as several volunteers needed time to prepare for the storm once they returned, but it also heightened everyones anxiety and the distraction potentially impacted what we could gain from the trip for ourselves.

    NMS – this is YHCs 10th trip to Honduras and 9th as the team lead. While we seek to serve others, YHC cannot get over how much serving others serves us in turn. As Hardywood said once – its not a question whether the glass is half empty or full – the real question is what are you putting in your cup. On these trips my cup is overflowing not just for the good that we do as a team, but also the interaction with our steadfast FOB amigos en Honduras, and finally seeing the experience through the new volunteers we bring. Most are shocked and moved to see such abject poverty – not too far away. While we have poor in the US, we also have services available and its rare that a multigenerational family of 5 -8 are living in a house of sticks and mud with dirt floors and a few sheets of tin or tarps for a roof. We have everything available here and many are miserable. The special people we visit in these remote communities have nothing with respect to our standard of living, but they have the happiness that we do not. I challenge anyone to make this trip and return unchanged. Till next year.

    Let me know if you want to learn more or check out: www.fobf.org

    Prayers for all to give their time an treasure to serve the world in this way: Pigskin is co leading a team in July. As part of a different org, Try Hard is leading a team to Nicaragua soon.

    Gitty up!

  • The Beautiful Bridge

    What a wonderful morning for F3RVA, F3 The Bridge and F3 Charlottesville to converge on top of the hills of Buckingham County, VA! At precisely 7:30am, after meetings and greetings, and tummy rubs and ear scratches for the pups, the following is what most likely happened:

    COP on the basketball court after a lap jog around the lot:

    Dead Man Hang, Reach for the Stars, Helicopters, DQ’s, Ukrainian Soldiers, Imperial Walkers, Copperhead Squats, LBC’s, WW2 Sit-ups, Flutter Kicks and 1 Arm Circle led by Hardywood

    Mosey over to the large blacktop area for:

    Four Corners – Prostitute Style

    10 Merkins, 20 Jump Squats, 30 Monkey Humpers, 40 SSH’s

    Mosey back to basketball court for:

    2 x 20 Partner Leg Tosses, each pax

    Plank-a-rama

    Mosey over to driveway for:

    Touch-a-Tree

    Round 1: 5 trees or protrusions from the ground/Merkins

    Round 2: 5 different trees or protrusions/Squats

    Round 3: 5 different trees or protrusions/Burpees

    Partner up for 20 count Boo-Yah Merkins

    Al Gore

    Back to the blacktop for:

    Tug-O-War! (refereed by Mr. Davis)

    Round 1: Mix-n-match Team A beats Mix-n-match Team B

    Round 2: Mix-n-match Team B beats Mix-n-match team A

    Round 3: F3 The Bridge beats F3RVA really badly!

    Back to the basketball court for:

    5MOM

    Each pax picked an exercise that we did 10 of in cadence.

    Time up!

    Numbers, Names, Prayer Requests and Praises

    YHC took us out!

    NMS:

    We could not have asked for anything more than what we received this morning! Great weather, awesome fellowship, and, most importantly, helping our F3 The Bridge brothers see the light of a new day (and the light at the end of the tunnel.) These five men brought their A game right out of the fartsack this morning! They also brought joy and humility to us, which was much needed for YHC.

    If you haven’t been, you need to go! It’s as simple as that. A lot of us advertise The Bridge at the end of most of our backblasts, but then it ends there. Follow through and go!

    Also, I have two words for you: Cumberland Diner!

    We need someone who has been at least one time to sign up to Q for January. See Upchuck.

    F3RVA – this thing that we share is not about you, it’s about everyone and everything else.

    Kubota