3rd F meetups are service and faith related where faith is believing the world is bigger than just yourself
6 men of purpose united for an evening of suds and buds. Temperatures were 70 and sunny. According to the 17-year old evaluating the PAX’s driving skills, the following might have happened:
The PAX assembled with 2 F’s in mind:
2nd F: Beers with your buds;
3rd F: The ante for attendance was bringing food for Feed More. Roughly 100 cans or can-equivalents raised, at least according to Handshake’s amortization curve, which itself is experiencing negative convexity.
With the menu all planned out and all the ingredients bought for dinner for our friends at the Daily Planet on Sunday night, I was ready to cook up the meal for 10: Baked Spaghetti, caesar salad, bread, and cookies for dessert. Then I happened to see Mr Roger’s backblast from what he brought the night before: Baked Spaghetti, caesar salad, bread, and cookies for dessert. I guess great minds think alike?
Anyway, Oyster said it was no big deal, so one of my 2.0s and I brought the meal and it was joyfully welcomed despite the repetitive menu. If they were sick of baked spaghetti, they didn’t let on.
This is a great way we can quietly serve, and a great way to include your 2.0s. Thanks Oyster for coordinating and Upchuck for leading it all those years.
A dozen men posted for the Saturday beatdown and fellowship at the Bridge Ministries in Cumberland county. YHC has never experienced quite a large group at this AO, and to say it was uplifting is an understatement. Men with varying backgrounds, stories of adversity, redemption and hardship, coming together with one common purpose….
Saab took the Q today while TYA provided his usual commentary, which reminded the PAX what F3 is really about.
Saab abides
Whelp, I am not that good at posting backblasts in a timely manner. Please forgive me…
It was a lovely morning in Blackwell for the four gloom warriors to take the field. We started with a COP, as usual. It consisted of the regular stuff that I do – you know, SSHs, DQs, Ukrainian Soldiers, merkins, and the like.
Offshore had some coupons – a 40lb kettle bell and a 30 pound ruck plate so YHC decided to use those because it’s not really working unless it hurts a little bit. YHC is going to start bringing a couple of KBs on the regular.
We partnered up and one partner did an exercise with the coupons while the other ran across the playground to the tree and back. Exercises were Russian kettlebell swings (the Russian swings are where the KB is straight out in front of the swinger, the American is when you swing it overhead – in case you were wondering), overhead press, and goblet squats – good times
Then we went to the brutal and steep but mercifully not huge. We did 11’s featuring Carolina Dry Docks and jump squats.
Next we moseyed across the street to the sports fields and went all the way to the end where we did some burpees, WW2s. and something else I cannot remember. Mosey back to the flag for numberama, namerama, and COT.
Keep Caleb in your thoughts and prayers – he is struggling.
So – I marked this post 3rd F for a couple of reasons. This AO has a couple of purposes and you may know – one is to attract men from The Healing Place and the other is to expand into neighborhoods underserved by F3RVA. This is something that we all (or most) agreed would be an important thing to do during our Pandemic Zoom town hall thing. It is so late because we are working with the schedules of the men in THP. We have a couple of ex THP Pax who have dug right in to F3RVA and I am grateful that they are now reaping the benefits of what we as a group have to offer.
The second reason is that The Crucible has been added as a 3rd F AO for the Summer Tour. YHC plans to do the tour and hope some of you other touring Pax come by.
Yours in service and brotherhood,
Shakedown
10 sleek chargers bounded out of the Fart Sack to the latest edition of First Watch. Conditions held steady at 70 and sunny. According to the sports car driver slinking his car through the Pax, the following might have happened:
04:28 YHC arrived to secure the AO.
04:30 Broga start time (Lockjaw had the Q)
04:55 Broga end time
05:00 Mosey around the River Road Church, Baptist (RRCB) Auxiliary Parking lot.
Circle up for the COP.
100 SSHs (x10 men = 1,000 SSHs)
Reach for the sky
Shoulder rolls
WWIIs
Plank up, drop to 6 inches, and hoooollllld it.
Jazzercise
Imperial walkers
Scorpion Kicks
Flutter kicks with hands over head
Slow mosey, then super, super slow mosey, then “I want to run by myself” slow. Like, so slow, several PAX walked past YHC.
Stop at Kubota’s truck. Pick a partner. One partner picks up a block.
05:15 Senor Frog coughs.
05:16 Senor Frog still coughing.
Mosey to the end of the parking lot. 5 overhead presses with the block. Partner performs squats. Swap the block. Mosey to the triangle / stop sign. Repeato 5 overhead presses or squats.
Triangle Loop:
(Note: YHC called directions for an exercise that made complete sense in YHC’s head. It made less sense to the PAX.)
Partner 1: Carry the block counter-clockwise around the Triangle. At each corner of the Triangle, do 5 reps with the block.
Partner 2: Run the Triangle clock-wise. When meeting Partner 1, swap the block, and do 5 reps of the exercise. The block continues going counter-clockwise with 5 reps at each corner of the Triangle.
Round 1: Overhead presses
Round 2: bench press
Modification: During Round 1, it became clear quickly that running on River with the blocks was a poor leadership suggestion. On their own, the PAX modified to run on the grass. Smart PAX. Good suggestion. A smart Q listens to the PAX, discards his ego, learns on his feet, and adapts. (Lesson: learning is critical to leadership.)
Mosey to Culpeper and Cameron.
Hill Work:
Pax 1: Carry block to top of hill on Culpeper and return to the bottom.
Pax 2: Bernie Sanders to top of hill on Cameron and return to the bottom.
Swap and repeato.
One Fast Guy Runs Alone:
Split into 3 groups:
Group 1: one super-fast guy. He runs the neighborhood solo. Thank you, Flo!
Group 2: people with a block carry it up the hill on Culpeper.
Group 3: people without a block bear crawl up Culpeper.
When the runner meets the group, circle up.
People with blocks form single-file line. Slow mosey back to Cameron, then up the hill to Ridge. While block group runs single-file, remaining PAX runs in a circle around the PAX, Heartbreak Ridge-style. (Some PAX tried to give up by slowing down, attempting to anticipate the Q calling for a swap. The Q softly whispered, “Don’t give the prick the satisfaction.”)
At Ridge and Cameron, circle up. YHC joking called for AYG to the traffic light, then backed off. But, the PAX insisted. AYG it is!
BTTVSF:
American hammers
Hello Dolly
Rosalitas
Reverse crunches
Ball dipper (1, and only 1)
Announcements:
Convergence on Memorial Day at Tredegar. YHC believes 7 a.m., but let’s get the Convergence Q to check on that.
Breaking Bread – sign up!
Summer Tour. Check Slack for the routes / requirements. HoneyDo posted them today. As F3RVA’s resident concert touring expert, Shakedown, once noted, few attend every concert on a tour. “You don’t have to complete the Tour to have been on Tour.” Go out there and hit the road!
(Suggestion: Before showing up to Q at an AO, take a few minutes to scout the place.)
NMS:
And, just like that, Big Data has YHC checked in for 1,000 posts. Boom. Hard to believe YHC has been at this for 7+ years since HoneyDo dragged YHC to WDog, where Bleeder dragged YHC back and forth on the tennis courts. Someone asked today how many total workouts YHC has as Big Data did not start until 2017. YHC guesses somewhere around 1,100. Whatever the number, it’s been fun, and YHC appreciates being a part of this place.
Many thanks to the men who act as leaders everyday for F3RVA. YHC read the list of names ahead of him on the 1K Club, and it is a Who’s Who of role models. No prima donnas at the top, just men setting a solid example for others to follow, both at workouts and in life. It occurred to YHC that not one of those guys is afraid to listen, take suggestions, explore ideas, and improve. Learning is the essence of being a good leader. Today’s workout had a series of exercises to thank them. Most are a staple of their Q’s or personalities. See if you can figure out who is referenced and where.
One Big Data Thank You…the 1K Club exists because of one person. Splinter. Without him, there is no 1K Club, and in many ways, there would not be the community that is F3RVA. Thank you, my friend, for putting forward your time and resources to help this group, completely without compensation. Your contribution is very much appreciated. We owe you a debt of gratitude.
UpChuck spits the bit.
Gentlemen of RVA F3
We have been presented a limited availability opportunity for 12 of us. (only 6 per night and only open to F3 RVA Pax to start off with due to very limited slots)
We will work on setting up another round soon if there is interest.
Sign up sheet is the F3RVA monthly challenge sheet. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-L8e9W24ygnU0suaGyKxzi1PgPqY1CBd57hLrKTZI-g/edit?usp=sharing
T-Claps to Flatline for identifying the instructor and Gomer Pyle for securing the location.
V/r
John (Gypsy) Boles
4 Levine’s weathered the chaos of Christmas tree shopping, decorating and yard work to prepare a meal for our Southside Health Center PAX. Here’s what our cats lurking for crumbs observed :
Warmarama : Gather 4 pound Chuck roast, 2 bags of mini size golden potatos, 1 bag of baby carrots, 2 cups beef broth, 1 teaspoon thyme, 2 teaspoons salt, 2 cloves garlic minced, 1 teaspoon pepper
THE THANG :
Gather all ingredients and throw em into the crockpot for 9 hours. During last hour, add a mixture of 2 tablespoons corn starch with 2 tablespoons cold water to thicken the broth.
Pack the car with M and 2.0s. Mosey to Southside Health Center. Brief Hot potato Q by Mary who was filling in for Barbara. Mary instructed YHC to enter alone to 2nd floor to drop off food due to health concerns and gave the green light for a picture.
DONE
Numbers, Names, YHC drove us home
NMMS : As always, this is a wonderful serving opportunity organized by UpChuck. Very rewarding emotionally, spiritually and all the above. Highly recommend all PAX sign up at least once a year to do this. I believe there’s an opening on Christmas Eve. Check the Q sheet for the 4th weekend of every month all the way to the farthest ride side of the screen. Include your family. Take turns watching your kids and include them too.
Six ruckers on a mission launched out from Hoedown laden with the spoils the Pax had left. Pigskin was nice enough to see us off and offer his support. The group dispersed in rotating pairs of two for chatting along the way. The lights of UR at night are outstanding with the reflections on the lake.
When we arrived at Spider Run, the parking lot was vacant of food, so we picked up the bat cave and trekked into the gloom. One deer sighting, though many more probably spotted us.
The holiday lights of the River Road Shopping Center we aglow welcoming the festive spirits. One of Henrico’s finest had radar set up and pulled someone right in front of us as we made our way to Westham Station.
Up the hill to First Watch where collected both donated goodies but also some distilled goodies courtesy of Handshake. Off we went back through the suburbs where Fudd thought he could collect more canned goods by banging on the door of a friend’s house. Turns out that they were not home and a little kid answered the door. Stranger Danger! and off we went.
Back to Hoedown to consolidate our donations and close out the night by the fire pit.
The folks at Midas (who have a permanent collection site for the Food Bank) were super helpful unloading this morning as we filled up the majority of one of those large donation boxes.
Thank you Pax for your contributions and for making a difference in many people’s lives this holiday season!
With no M or 2.0s available to assist in the kitchen, YHC decided to curate instead of cook Sunday’s Breaking Bread meal: Publix fried chicken, basil and feta rigatoni salad, fruit salad, iced tea, and cookies-n-cream frosted cupcakes. Plus two bags of nectarines and a bag of tangerines for the week. The residents really appreciate that we are thinking of them, and Barbara sends her regards.
6 trusted servants arrived post gloom, some post Dogpile, to see what catalysts for change the Crucible had to offer today. Some details remain fuzzy but it went a little something like this…
We met at the new, official meeting place which is the parking lot for the school and we moseyed over to the fields to see if anyone didn’t get the memo but all was good so we had a bit of COP including some stretching along with the usual suspects of SSH, DQ, LBCs, Merkins etc… Then we took advantage of our multiples of 3 and did a triple check which encompassed some running, some balls to the wall, and some hello dollies. Next we completed a lap around the Charlie D Sydnor portion of the AO where everyone’s feet got wet but we survived, then on to a Dora that featured some SSHs, some 2 count mountain climbers, and 300 Carolina Dry Docks for the win.
Next we decided that it would be a good idea to explore the rest of the AO since it was only the second time we have had a workout there and as we rounded the school and looked out into a field covered with litter everyone agreed with me that the last 10 minutes of the 1st F could be a little 3rd F and we all picked up litter and filled a lawn and leaf bag that YHC had in the back of his truck. Everyone thought it was a good idea and many of us had the thought at the same time.
Big love to Joey Chestnut for showing up even with his dad, Offshore could not be there (and to his mom for driving him!!). JC is an inspiring young man.
We followed up the 1F/3F with some 2F at Cafe Zata where we plan to return next week. We are hoping that this AO catches on with the neighborhood and with the guys in THP (who could not attend on this day due to it being a “deep clean” day). Looking forward to next week! Its on the Q sheet so don’t be afraid to grab the Q, we aren’t stingy 🙂
