Tag: DownRange

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

YHC covered hospital call for the second time yesterday (Mon), and it was a tough day, but thankfully the the last call was around midnight, so YHC got a solid 5 hours of sleep. Having committed to the rest of Station that YHC would be present at Ground Zero every Tue/Thur/Sat during our short stay, there was no question about posting this AM. As it would turn out, recently named Quadfather was feeling sick, so YHC had a 45min solo sweatfest, as follows:

WARMERAMA: Various combination of IC warmup exercises with moving warmup exercises. 5 minutes in and already out of breath – this altitude is for real!

THE THANG – x3 Rounds of the following:

• Station 1 – Variable Upper Body exercises – such as alternating incline merkins and dips on the swinging chain fence, burpee broad jumps, polar bears, walking Lt Dan’s, etc
• Station 2 – Mosey to the covered area for abb work – pole smokers, variable type LBC’s, WWII’s, etc
• Station 3 – run down long gravel/stone road (watch your step or break your ankles) to the bottom, complete variable reps (burpees, opus, groiners, etc), then run back to the top to start over

6MOM, then Solo Number, Name, and COT with some powerfully Spirit-led prayer for the unknown challenges ahead.

NMS: It was the perfect way to start a new day, even if solo. What a blessing to be here, to have the strength of body and self-discipline to kick my own tail. Also the time afforded YHC an opportunity to reflect on some of the wild medical diagnoses faced in the ER and hospital, and the heartache of having to pray multiple times a day with people dying, or the parents of those babies who are dying. The motto of the hospital is “We treat, Jesus heals”. Every time YHC is here, it takes time to fond peace in this chaos, and trust Jesus to do the most important kinds of healing. Also during the workout, YHC affirmed the resolution to post every Tue/Thur/Sat, even if sleep-deprived post-call. There are few stronger testimonies than that of reliability. Also concluded the Solo-Q Rule #1 = remain close to the start point for potential late-comers, and Rule #2 = remain visible to main throughways to invite potential FNG’s. YHC got two headlocks this AM for possible attendance Thursday. Brothers reading this, thank you. Please keep praying for the Lord to work through me here, whether that’s in the gloom or in the hospital. Yours, DTH

Brothers, posting from Papua New Guinea, I wanted to share a quick Backblast for this morning’s first bootcamp here on Kudjip Hospital Station, AO titled “Ground Zero”. The temps were in the 60’s with a warm sunrise during our 45min sweatfest. Two FNG’s posted, longtime Surgeon Dr Ben Radcliffe and his son Matthias, aged 9. Here’s how we got a strong start for the reinvigoration of F3 in PNG:

Warmerama: Circle up on the “soccer field”, F3 welcome, review of core principals and credo, and encouragement to modify however needed. Then we ran a couple laps and jumped into the usual DTH top to bottom IC exercises to warm up. YHC was already out of breath at this high altitude just calling cadence!

COP #1: Run to the bottom of the long gravel road (maybe 200 yards), groiners IC, then return to the top in variable movement – sprint, lunges, backwards lunges.

COP #2: Triple Check – Merkins, Lt Dans, Run accross the field and back

COP #3: Mosey nearby and circle up for Mary IC: Boat/Canoe, AmHam’s, Flutters High, Flutters Low, Rosalita Dips, Dolley’s, Mtn Climbers, Carolina Drydocks, and maybe a few others

COP #4: Mosey around a large building, stop for Carousel Planks 20 yards on a low concrete wall, then inverted plank walk for the 2nd half. Mosey to a nearby wall for People’s Chair and Hoedowns

COP #5: Mosey a ways then stop at a concrete wall for IC reps of Dirtry Hookups and Donkey Kicks

COP #6: Catch me if you can BTTF – moving partner bear crawls, other guy completes x3 burpees the mosey’s to catch up

COP #7: Circle up at the virtual flag and complete 6 minutes of mary – just a ton of core exercises IC

COT: Numbers #3, Names (x2 FNG’s), Prayer of Thanksgiving and Supplication

NMS: On YHC’s last trip to Kudjip, there were MANY lonely mornings until a few regulars started keeping up with the dedicated Tue/Thur/Sat bootcamps, so you can imagine my joy in having a couple hearty FNG’s for today’s first return post at “Ground Zero”. Dr Ben Radcliffe is about my age, and grew up here on Station, his father Dr Jim Radcliffe served as a surgeon here for many decades and now Ben carries the mighty mantle. Towards the end of the bootcamp we did a little stretching and he was super tight in his quads, then said something funny like “they don’t call me The Quadfather for nothing!” And boom – that’s how you get an awesome nickname. Haha. His son Matthias loves basketball and got the nickname “C30” after the legendary Stephen Curry who wears the #30 jersey. All in all, an awesome start to the next 6 weeks posting 3x/week here. Praying for more men to come try out F3 Ground Zero and ignite a fire in this community. Sending love back to all my F3RVA brothers, DTH