Tag: 3rdF

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

  • Breaking Bread

    A successful venture! They are very appreciative of the hot meal! I got there at 5:30 PM.

    I brought 2 Stouffer’s lasagna (each feeds 7), a carton of mixed spring greens, a bottle of Ranch and a bottle of balsamic vinaigrette salad dressing, cut up some carrots, cucumbers and tomatoes so that they could be added to the salad, 24 mini cupcakes, and 1 1/2 gallons of lemonade. Unfortunately, I left the rolls at home.

    I had to drop off because we went out of town that evening.

    I had some trouble finding the place. It’s a 2-story red brick building with the entrance on the right (as you face the building). On the opposite side of the street, there is the white and yellow sign for the Richmond Police Station, 2nd precinct and an orange and white Sign for Orange Beauty Supplies. I found this more useful in identifying the location than the Wendy’s which has been shut down.

  • The HIM’s have Crossed.

    Seven swarthy travelers crossed paths in the last light of day, banded together to conquer hard stuff, then each left their way, all the better for it. Here’s what happens when the Good Doctor doesn’t plan anything but the creative juices are flowing…

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Mosey lap around the Annex lot, with variable movements and then complete x10 Broad Jump Burpees
    • Earn a merit badge carrying pine logs from one area to another to help the church out
    • Circle the lot again and then circle up for the Welcome & Disclaimer, and a very brief set of warmup reps IC …like NoCheat Merkins

    COP #1: 

    • Mosey over to the sloped lot and circle up for some more warmerama…with sprints
    • IC stretch reps called at the top, followed by a run to the bottom and back up
    • Probably ran about 4-5x, plenty warm

    COP #2:

    • Mosey over the the DTH Taco and collect three ruck bags – weight varying 30-45 pounds
    • School circle and pass the rucks left in a slow, core-crunching style mirroring an American Hammer …rucks pass a few times around the circle, then reverso on direction to pass Right for a while
    • Return the rucks

    COP #3:

    • Mosey down to the Wailing Wall for a Triple Check
    • P1 – Donkey Kicks
    • P2 – Dirty Hookups
    • P3 – Run to spank the container and back

    COP #4:

    • Mosey backside of the church to a soft pitch for a Core Beatdown
    • x50 Oblique LBC’s (x25 ea side)
    • x50 Flutters – x15 Low IC, x15 High IC, and x20 low rapid IC
    • Partner up for PLT’s – x25 each

    COP #5:

    • Mosey to the church portico for a leg beatdown
    • x15 Monkey Humpers IC
    • x15 Forward Lunges IC
    • x20 Speed Humpers IC
    • x100 Alt Curb Toe Taps OYO (2-ct)

    COP #6:

    • Mosey to find another soft spot of turf
    • x50 WWII’s – all stop when Q completes

    Mosey BTTF:

    • Elbow Plank it up to review the F3 Mission, 5CP’s, and Credo

    COT:

    • Counterama # 7
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • BOM Prayer

    Prayer Requests:

    • Lifting up DTH&Fam with Missions trip
    • Prayers for WEAG leadership and transitional season
    • Praise for Snap earning a college scholarship to VMI

    NMS:  What a beautiful balmy evening to sweat it out with the finest brothers a man could ask for. The COP’s were truly spontaneous and random but produced a fantastic beatdown all the same. Deeply appreciative for the powerful prayer warriors around our COT sending YHC into the Mission Field. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    http://hendersonsinmissions.blogspot.com

  • Yes Chef!

    YHC’s 2.0 likes to cook from time to time, especially for school volunteer hours.  Here’s what was served:

    • Free range artisanal chicken breast filets lightly battered and fried with optional tangy barbecue glaze
    • Fresh seasonal fruit diced and drizzled with a sweet lemon reduction
    • Crispy kettle cooked sliced potatoes dusted with salt and barbecue spice
    • Vanilla mousse parfait layered with sliced organic bananas and wafers and finished with a light crème fraiche topping and wafer crumbles
    • Squeezed lemons combined with raw cane sugar and natural spring water served over cubed ice

    Numberama, Nameorama, COT

    MOLESKIN

    Nailed it!  Always a pleasure to give back.

  • Sober October 2024

    Sober October 2024

    All RVA PAX are invited to join together for a month of self-denial. It doesn’t matter what you choose to give up, taking a stand against your usual desires/indulgences will bring you to new levels of self-awareness and self-discipline, and it will grow our camaraderie in accountability and encouragement with one another. Giving up alcohol is a solid step if you regularly have a drink to take the edge off your stress, but you could also choose to abandon other unhealthy habits like sweets, snacks, soda, social media, or any screen time activity you regularly indulge in. As always with F3, you versus you… but don’t let the JESTER win! (F3 Lexicon: The Jester is the temptation of the flesh which hinders acceleration). There is a Slack channel (#sober_october) you can join for mutual encouragement, and a link below where you can declare what you’ll be giving up, and keep track of your progress. Yours AYE! ~DTH

    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit

     

  • Lara Teague Curry 5K

    We need one more Off the Books backblast today, so here it is:

    An assortment of PAX converged on Trinity UMC this morning in order to remember Lara Teague Curry’s life by supporting the 5K named in her memory. EF Hutton, Seymore and YHC set-up and manned the F3RVA awareness table while Offshore, Chippendale, Bodo’s, Splinter, Bass Pro, Sandy, Vandelay and Joey Chestnut ran the 5K. Thanks to Gomer Pyle for getting us the spot for the table so that we could spread the word on F3 and it’s mission. Several wives took F3RVA business cards home to their husbands.

    Another local teacher left us this week, the second one this year. My wife worked with the first one.

    Mental illness is real, folks! Please make yourself aware of it. Reach out for help. No one will look at you as a lesser person. People care about you!

    Kubota

  • Freed To LEAD

    13 men of valor have chosen a different form of retreat this morning – retreating from the lure of the fartsack, and paying the ransom of sweat and pain owed to glorifying God with our bodies. Here’s how these HIM’s embraced the challenge to lead:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA: 

    • Circle up on the basketball court
    • Invite to any other guys wanting to Q …no takers? OK, let’s GO! 
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • The usual DTH top to bottom IC Reps

    COP #1: 

    • DORA
    • x100 Merkins, x200 Squats, x300 LBC’s
    • Moving partner lunges length of basketball court, then bearcrawls back to switch with partner

    PLANKORAMA REVIEW:

    • Review the F3 Mission, Credo, 5 CP’s while holding low plank, pushing up and stretching between

    COP #2:

    • Mosey out to the lit parking area and circle up
    • FREED TO LEAD
    • The PAX was briefly directed by the Q on the simple steps to call an exercise in cadence (1. State the exercise, 2. Ready Position Move, 3. In Cadence, 4. Exercise!, 5. 1-2-3-_, 6. Change intonation in final count)
    • Each of the 12 other HIM’s in the circle then exercised their freedom to lead the PAX in 10 reps of whatever exercise they wanted in cadence
    • After Action Report was provided where needed but generally everyone did extremely well

    COP #3:

    • TRIPLE CHECK
    • P1 – Flutters
    • P2 – Wall Step-ups
    • P3 – Run up steep hill and back down

    COT:

    • Counterama # 13
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • YHC took the PAX out in Prayer

    Prayer Requests:

    • Salvation for Marshall and Christian, two brothers that FNG Hasselhoff brought here to the retreat 

    NMS:  Wonderful weather for our second mountain beatdown, and great to have another big group at the Windy Gap men’s retreat. Plenty of turnover between yesterday and today as most men chose only one of the two days to attend F3. But we still had three FNG’s to welcome, and all the PAX embraced the opportunity to lead some reps in cadence and did a GREAT job of it. YHC was hoping another HIM would accept yesterday’s invite for someone else to lead today’s beatdown, but since no takers YHC found another way to share leadership. God is moving here on the mountain top, as always best appreciated as it appears THROUGH the brothers next to you. I’m reveling in deep thanksgiving for the opportunity to be here. Yours AYE! ~DTH

  • Bridge – 9/14/24

    12 dudes got it done this morning!

    Warmorama:
    We kicked things off with a few warm-up laps around the blacktop, followed by:

    •   Side Straddle Hops (SSH)
•   Copperhead Squats
•   Deadman Hangs
•   Merkins
•   LBCs
•   Stretches

    The Thang:
    Grabbed our Cindys and moseyed over to the basketball court.

    Round 1:
    5 rounds of Cindy work:

    •   Swings
•   Presses
•   Rows
•   Curls
•   Triceps Extensions

    Then, we ran a lap.

    Round 2:
    Passed the baton to Purple Rain, who led another 5 rounds:

    •   Thrusters
•   Block Merkins
•   Reverse Lunges
•   Skull Crushers

    Heist jumped in with a surprise set of 11s: Burpees and Squats. Things got spicy!

    Round 3:
    Wrapped up with some more Cindy work.

    Triple Check:
    Swoop led a quick triple check of Merkins and LBCs.

    Finished up by putting the blocks away, then a little Broga to cool down. Time!

    COT:
    We circled up for Numbers/Names. Big Herm took us out with a strong prayer, especially lifting up Tank as he prepares for the next chapter in 80 days.

    Moleskin:
    Grateful to all the guys who came out for a solid beatdown. Enjoyed some much-needed 2nd F at the Cumberland Restaurant afterward!

    IronSharpensIron

  • 17 Mountain Men

    First bootcamp of Windy Gap 2024 pulled together a handsome 17-PAX (including 7 FNG’s!) to the pre-dawn Carolina mountain gloom. These men of God answered the call to do something hard, to start their day with a transformative dose of the Daily Red Pill, and draw on one another’s strength to achieve victory over the flesh. Here’s how these HIM’s honored our Creator:

    The THANG: 

    WARMERAMA:

    • Assemble on the dark Basketball Court
    • Welcome & Disclaimer
    • Nancy Kerrigans IC ea side
    • Copperhead Squats IC
    • x5 Burpees OYO
    • Mosey over to the road in the lamplight
    • Don Quixotes IC
    • The Opus IC
    • Werkins IC
    • Diamonds IC
    • WWII’s IC
    • Flutters High & Low IC
    • LBC’s IC
    • REVIEW THE 5 CORE PRINCIPLES 

    COP #1: 

    • FIFTIES – x50 reps of variable exercises with a 30-50 yard mosey between stops
    • Merkins, Monkey Humpers, Squats, Dips, Lunges

    COP #2:

    • THE HILL – get up the steep grassy hill in Bear Crawl, with alternate lunge if needed
    • Front runners go back for the SIX, then Elbow Plank to REVIEW THE F3 CREDO

    COP #3:

    • LIGHT POLE ALLY
    • x15 Squats at each light back down to the bridge

    COP #4:

    • CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
    • Partner up and while one partner starts BERNIE, the other completes x3 BURPEES then sprints to catch partner and switch

    COP #5:

    • WALLORAMA
    • Hoedowns IC
    • Donkey Locks IC
    • Milkers IC
    • BTTW for Hip Slappers IC

    Mosey BTTVSF:

    • Circle up for 5min of MARY
    • Am Hammers IC
    • Rosalita Dips IC
    • Boat/Canoe until time

    COT:

    • Counterama # 17
    • Namerama
    • Announcerama (see Below)
    • YHC took the PAX out in Prayer

    NMS:  This is YHC’s 4th annual meeting on the mountain with God and close to 400 brothers. This being the 49th year of the Windy Gap men’s retreat, the mountaintop weekend embraces men in a place of need for renewal. Every year the F3 workouts have attracted more brothers, and always entertains a healthy percentage of FNG’s.  With at least 5 HIM’s over 50-70 years of age, the bootcamp followed a pattern of easily modifiable reps and shorter distances while maintaining a respectable challenge for all fitness levels. It was especially awesome to celebrate the return of Liberace and a number of other men from the Recovery Program who work as wait staff at camp. TClaps to these guys for breaking away from the status quo! Round two tomorrow at 0600 and hope to see some more of our veterans out who chose to retreat in their bunks this morning!  Yours AYE! ~DTH

  • Make an Impact at The Bridge

    Make an Impact at The Bridge

    This post is about two things:

    Men who make an impact.

    Men who take the lead, not for themselves, but on behalf of others.

    If either of those topics interests you, read on.

    The Bridge is a ministry-driven school in Buckingham, Virginia, about an hour or so west of Richmond. There, men who are transitioning from being incarcerated to being free (again) spend about a year learning a variety of trades (e.g., welding, HVAC, carpentry, mechanical skills, and so forth) so that, when they are released, they have sufficient skills and structure to be (we hope) independent, well-functioning members of our society. Succeeding with one guy is a win. In short, this is a step on a second chance at life. The men are all selected by the judicial system based on their behavior while in prison. They are challenged – many have drug, alcohol, or other addictions. If these men do not adhere to the standards, they are sent back to prison to complete their sentence. In short, it’s not a guarantee, and it’s not a cake walk. In any case, if you believe in St. Jude (the patron Saint of Lost Causes) or the story of St. Dismas, perhaps that’s enough inspiration for you to give a few hours of your time and energy to support these men on the occasional Saturday morning. Or, if you are looking to meet other F3 men and enjoy the Second F of the drive out and back, hop in the Clown Car and make an impact. I believe you will learn from this experience, and I believe you will help others grow as well.

    Our F3 brothers in Charlottesville manage this effort. F3RVA takes on a fraction of the commitment. Back in the day, we used to claim 12 Q’s a year (one per month). That was a challenge for one person to organize. So, we have changed it up. We now have 7 volunteer leaders, that’s 7 of your F3RVA brothers (ahem, F3RVA and F3Amelia), who have committed to leading (or organizing other men to lead) 2 times per year each. That’s 14 Saturdays. Quite an impact.

    In addition, if you would like to join this group of Leaders and share the challenge of Leadership, there are 52 weeks in a year. Plenty of good places still available. The more, the merrier. We can always do more.

    Here’s our list of Leaders. Everyone of them has my respect.

    State Farm: Goyne Park / Chester
    Heist: Alamo / Western Chesterfield
    Whitesnake: Gridiron / Strange’s Nursery
    Hardywood: Amelia / Jetersville / Appomattox
    Corned Beef: DaVille
    The Yankee Aggressor: City Proper
    UpChuck: Westhoe / Tuckahoe / Who You Calling a Hoe?

    As I noted previously, there are holes to fill on the map. It would be awesome to have a Leader pick up the challenge on behalf of the Stratford Hills / Midlo area. You have an entire region behind you.

    This weekend, we launch. Saturday, August 31, State Farm has the Q, and Broadway is riding shotgun. Two studs taking on this opportunity (even while they are building The Iron Bridge!). YHC sees your impact, and it’s impressive. Thank you. Nice work.

    On September 14, we have another Leader ready to grab the mantle and make an impact. Heist will be leading the crew. Thank you, as well. And, thank you to the guys planning to join him.

    To everyone else, your nano / local Leader (the guys listed above) will be organizing a small team two times per year. Jump in the car and go. For those who work out on Saturdays, this takes about an hour longer than your normal Saturday morning commitment, with a usual return by 10:30 or so. You are guaranteed to make an impact, learn about yourself, and have the worst cup of coffee (styrofoam cup, super weak coffee, all free of charge!) in support of a great cause.

    Oh, and a few guys have asked me about going to a place surrounded by a fence. If you have not been to a prison, detention facility, jail, halfway house, glamour slammer, or similar, this is not GITMO or Folsom. No shackles, no iron bars, no razor wire, no gangs, no prison guards, and no jump suits. This is a farm with a rail fence. The guys often workout in jeans (we bring them workout clothes and F3 shirts). There are one or two guys with radios. These guys look forward to seeing you. They love this, and they put out the effort to make it a success.

    YHC thanks you in advance for your time, energy, and impact.

    Let’s do this!

  • My Q? Snuff Q? + the debut of Rev

    Blame the Russians! Some how, I signed up to Q, but the Q sheet appeared open for the Forge, so Snuff signed up ready to rock! Anyway, Snuff kicked it over to me at 5:29:59. No problem. Let’s go.

    Warmorama by flagpoles: Provided F3 mission statement, core principles, and disclaimer.
    Exercises were: SSH/Deadman hangs/CHs/Ukranians soldiers/DQ/merkins/LBCs/APDs/flutters/ and Rosco’s Mom stretches (my fav!)


    COP 1: 11s using the amphitheater stairs. 1 squat to start. Box jump or lunge up. 10 erkins at top. Continue on 2/9,3/8……10/1. Al Gore for six. 20 second count.

    COP 2: Mosey to the field gate. Locked. Mosey back to the wall for a Pigskin inspired COP. 4 rounds of hoedowns/milkers/donkey kicks sandwiched with 5 burpees each round. Did my best “OYO” impersonation of the man/myth/legend himself. Not as good as the real thing. Respect Respect Respect Sir!

    COP 3: Mosey back to front of school. Triple check. Runner goes down about 75 yards towards field and back. Team rotating between carolina dry docks and flutters.

    BTTF for three minutes of cool down stretches.

    Numbers/Names and Rev!: I asked our newest Pax member Raymond (69 y/o African American built like Pigskin) to come to the center of the COT to provide an introduction and get his new name. Paraphrasing here (trying my best to capture the moment)

    First and most important, I am born again. I saw this group last week praying (referring to the COT) and I asked myself “are those guys praying?” I knew these guys were the type of men I wanted to be around, so I got here at 5:05 a.m this morning (I wasn’t going to miss it). This country needs leadership more than ever. God and liberty (some reference to founding fathers and Patrick Henry’s “give me liberty or give me death” speech). This country and our communities, now more than ever, need to be lead by men who are devoted to Jesus Christ. I will be back.

    And…that’s how we got “Rev.”

    Announcements:

    1. Ruck event on August 25. 2.0 friendly. 7 am launch from Byrd Park Pump house. See DTH.
    2. Labor Day (9/2) convergence. 7 am at the new AO Nuchols Farm Elementary.
    3. 9/21 convergence 7 am. Dog Pile

    Prayers:

    1. Tragic car accident off Buford road last night in front of Lastcall’s home.
    2. Pray for DTH church members and their new journey with Christ.
    3. Prayers for the kids back to school next week.

    Thanks for letting me lead dudes!

    Heist