185 posted to celebrate 5 years of Fitness, Fellowship, and Faith in the LKN area, F3/Isotope. All the Qs listed above in the pax list were FNGs in 2011. Some of them may have felt like FNGs again after the effort I saw them put into their workouts this past Saturday. Well done, Men! YHC heard from several pax who said they expected a convergence to be more about the 2nd F than the 1st F.
After the usual meet & greet and problems with our local traffic cop (wOUldn'T naMe anY Names), the action started on the NMP soccer fields.
Gump, Drive Thru and Thug provided some warm-o-rama to quiet the roudy mumblechattering pax. But, that didn't work on RaceCity's ManHands. He'd rather just save his breath for the mumblechatter than be put in a situation where he was too out of breath to provide his profound, meaningful commentary. He was NOT to be silenced on Saturday. Aye!
Packaged within the warmup was a disclaimer provided specifically to 4FNGs (welcome!), a brief explanation of what was to ensue for the next 50 minutes, and Leer (RESPECT 2x and war veteran…but not the War Daddy…that as GodFather) leading the pax in the pledge of allegiance.
Thang – For the next 40 minutes, your tour guide Qs each took ~18 guys on a mini-tour of NMP. Here are their stories:
Stations 1-3 – M16 / Callahan / Bama (lower parking lot, playground, basketball courts)
mini-modified-Vern (pullups, dips, mericans LBCs) at stations near parking lot, AMRAP
Basketball courts
1) Bear crawl sideline to sideline Court #1 – 10 Merkins, Crab walk Court #2 – 10 Merkins Bear Crawl Court #3 – 10 merkins Sprint back – Bear crawl court #1 and Crab walk #2 with merkins in between – sprint back – Bear Crawl court #1 – sprint back
2) Mosey to court #4 – 1/2 group suicides; 1/2 group plank switch REPEATO
3) Mosey to shelter – 20 step ups
4) 20 Touch that Butt
Soccer fields – lots of jumping and running if M-16 did any of the design work
Stations 4-6: Gnarly Goat / Possum / Outlaw (rock pile, tennis courts, lower baseball fields)
lots of 'timely' mericans, cacka-lacka-choo-choo, some hill work, rock work
Stations 7-9: Primo / Soprano / Skipper (upper baseball fields, concession stand, picnic shelter)
quadraphelia, burpees, crunches, step-ups, CDD from the benches
Station 10: Ludi – kettlebell group on the soccer field
22 pax and just enough KBs for all. SSH, Speedskaters, Peter Parker to further warm their blood.
Down the ladder –
- 55 KB chest press
- 50 KB swings
- 45 KB sumo squats
- 40 KB lawn mowers
- 35 KB curls
- 30 KB standing skull crushers
- 25 KB high pulls
- 20 KB crazy ivans
- 15 KB side plank rows, each side
- 10 KB sit ups
- 5 KB mericans, each side
- 5 OTS press
…and then back up the ladder 🙂
Mary – Mounty and YHC closed the deal with a handful of your favorite Isotope exercises, including but not necessarily limited to:
- JLo x20, Homer-2-Marge with some Mr. Burns thrown in
- Makhtar Ndiaye x15, low dolly x20, rosalita x20
- Low flutter x12, bicycle x20
Moleskin from the workout:
Possum
Outlaw
Ludi (sometime spelled Lewdy, depending on his commentary that day)
Gnarly Goat
– It was an honor to have F3Nation reps OBT and Crotch Rocket aboard the Group 4 Pain Train. Crotch Rocket lived up to his name with some fine and fast sprints during our 1040 short form, although both he and OBT both opined that ongoing BRR preps had left them somewhat ill-prepared for a good dose of above-the-waist work that included a hose-your-neighbor version of Stonehenge and at least a few ‘mericans.
– Seriously, it was good to catch up with these two F3Nation leaders who are working fast and furiously to bring this good thing to other men around the country and even around the world. Thanks for joining the Isotope 5-year jubilee north of 10th!
Moses
- tclaps for all the support to make today happen; OG for delivering a beatdown worthy of the 5 years you have invested in this F3 thing
- Possum and Callahan did what every Q sets out to do…KMOA!
- Primo attacked the hills with a vengeance and was later seen hugging his knees to his chest on his front lawn, pool side, and at Whole Foods in the 'make-your-own-hummus' section.
- I think Ludi and M-16 made his 1st Saturday workout since I was in my 30s
- Skipper was at a loss without a theme; he tried to be himself, but the pax lost interest
- Smug, sadistic, eerily silent Soprano…well…'nuf said.
- Hey Outlaw! Who critiqued who's form? It was the Bobbing for Apples Merican vs. the Flying Squirrel Burpee
- Bama – did you kill them with the Bosai?
- ?tclaps Slaughter for brining the remote controlled mosquito to hover above and for putting together a great video memory
- tlcaps Gump for the sound system; Mountie for allowing me to type-cast him into traffic control (wheelhouse…???); Firestone for the Primal Brewery connection; Mr. Burns for Parks & Rec support and the leadership for trusting that I had operational capability to pull this off.
- tclaps Dredd for a great CoT closing words and prayer; I'll be praying that the dam can't hold back the men of F3 and what they are called to do
- tclaps Moniteur for the persistent EH in early 2011; it's time you come back and visit us in the North Country
Testimonials and Most Memorable or Impactful F3 Moments:
Bama – …don't think I can narrow it down. There have been some poignant moments that stand out with Mounty's sister, Olive, Rock, and others. Also the convergences, mud runs, and other special events have been cool. But I think my favorite part of F3 is the true friendships that have developed with guys I otherwise wouldn't have met. There are some guys that I know I can count on as true friends. When my father died I received condolences…that were truly heartfelt…we tend to gloss over the actual exercise part of F3 when we talk about these things. But that's really what keeps it all together. I've fartsacked a lot lately but my fitness is way better than I would ever have expected at my age. We push harder when we work out together than we ever would alone.
DriveThru – Unfortunately, like you Moses, some of my favorite moments have involved a loss or a sickness. Like our trip to WV with Gump & Arizona when we planted the SF at Jethro's father's funeral; or, when we rallied around FREEEdom during his battle with cancer. Most recently the MMM convergence for Olive. It's tough to choose just one moment but my personal favorite F3 moment has to be my first post on 9/17/11. (Yes I missed the first few weeks of @f3isotope.) It may not have been my favorite moment at the time, but looking back now it has to be my favorite personal F3 moment. I can name everyone at that workout: Moses, Outlaw, Ludi, Callahan, M-16, Possum, Skully, Foley and it was the day OBT and Dredd traveled north of 10th St. to bring us our Isotope ShovelFlag. Although I'm not in any better shape right now then I was on 9/17/11 mostly because of some injuries this summer, that day changed my life for the better. It unleashed a leader in me that I didn't know was inside of me and that day inspired me to EH others who have become leaders in our community as well. That day also pushed me toward doing things I never would have thought possible, like mudruns and Spartans, a full marathon and BRRs, etc. I love being a part of this community and look forward to the next great F3 moment, but I'm not sure I'll be able to top 9/17/11.
Callahan – The first Murphs we did as a group were hard, fun and meaningful. I remember we always TALKED about WHY we did the Murph…and had at least a concept of the meaning. But when we all went to see Lone Survivor together, it really crystallized it for me and others. The dead silence in the movie and the silence as we all left at the end was VERY powerful. Helping to launch Statesville, Shelby and Mountain Island were all great experiences. Spreading F3 and seeing new men respond to the leadership call is amazing. Lastly, visiting other F3 locations when out of town gives me a great level of comfort that F3 Nation is spreading, and I am always welcome when I end up in one of those locations.
Outlaw – My most memorable F3 moment(s) – each and every time we have asked the Isotope Pax to step out and help their fellow man, they always respond in spades. Personally, the MDM convergence when we raised over $2000 from F3 workout shirts to donate to the Lt. Michael Murphy Foundation and the work we did at the home of C3PO through the Joe Martin ALS foundation stand out in my mind. To this day I truly love seeing all the MDM F3 shirts the pax wear to workouts. Our pax is a special group of men I am truly humbled to be surrounded by.
Possum – Gathering at 131 Main to support Olive after his loss, still raises hair on my arm, and later seeing one of our PAX making a trip to NY to plant the shovel flag in SweetTooth's memory. The Audible that was called when 18 + PAX gathered at my house to lead a workout in the gloom on a moment's notice in 2012 to offer their support knowing my family’s day would be extremely difficult. Eternally grateful for the support this past summer that I received from the PAX after the loss of my dad, especially Jimmy O’s persistence in reaching out and arranging personal workouts on my behalf. Goat’s article encouraging men to do the GoRuck special event for MAAFS7 in Charlotte pushed me over the edge to do my first event. All of the OG’s that inspire me to not give up, even in my inability to consistently make workouts in the gloom. The support and love shown to Duvall after the loss of his children's mother this year.
Ludi – favorite memory has to be video at Christmas party of the j-lo….. Thanks Possum! Loved the smack talking on email from gnarly goat before his first post. Shoe' s 50th birthday party!
Gump – top F3 moments
- First workout was cold and raining and I was never coming back
- Getting left behind on my 1st Murph
- Road trip to Jethro’s dad’s funeral
Gnarly Goat – Moses asked us to comment on things we really like about F3. One of those “things” was in our group, and it goes by the name of “Freeeeeeedom!” Freedom’s comeback after fighting a scary medical situation has been inspirational for me and many of us.
Speaking of other things I like about F3…
- I like when I’m in a parking lot by myself… in a cold rain… at 5:20 am … and I start wondering if ANYONE is dumb enough to join me. I like this because I always know the answer to my own question. Then the headlights start rolling in. I like that. Aye.
- I like that I have friends that I know so well I recognize their running gait from 100 yards away in the dark. I like that. Aye.
- I like when we workout on Memorial Day morning and we go around the circle and call out the name of a hero who gave all for us. I like that. Aye.
- I like watching an FNG on his first day… and then when HE brings out an FNG… and then when he completes his first Q. I like that. Aye.
- I like when one of us suffers a loss… and we don’t know what to do… so we do the only thing we know how to do… we surround him… we go out in the gloom… and we somehow make it better. I like that. Aye.
- Dredd's "Yitzhak Speech" in the middle of SNORUCK 421. Even at the moment it reminded me of the meeeting on the pitcher's mound from Bull Durham.
- The CATTARD – Jolly Roger
- Drive Thru and I deciding it was time to run for our lives during a thunderstorm at JV Washam.
- Driving exceedingly fast to my very first post to make it in time after I'd overslept… and after a full week of smack talk on email about me wanting to start the workout earlier. Ha!
It’s been a great five years. I look forward to many more.
Moses – some of my great F3 moments are the ones that show how each of your are:
- empathetic: ever seen a guy shed a tear just listening to the heartfelt or heartbreaking story of another man? IKEA, Olive
- compassionate: ever seen a guy dress up, take off work, and/or travel a great distance to attend the funeral of a person he doesn't know just so he can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with an F3 brother to let him know that he does NOT suffer alone? Duvall, Entourage, Jethro
- selfless: ever seen a guy gather basic life survival needs and deliver them 2 hours away to flood victims who have lost everything they have and stick around to clean out their water damaged homes? Or answer the call to move a friend and move an entire house in 2 or 3 hours…what should have taken all day?
- strong: have you ever been the recipient of a phone call, text or email from a guy asking where you've been for the last days/weeks? It's time to get back out in the gloom and get to work!
Skipper – Ahoy! I still vividly remember the Oct 2011 day I got EH'd by Outlaw at Bailey Road Park while we were watching our boys play soccer. I was complaining about waking up "early" on a Saturday to make it to an 8am soccer game on a cold and wet morning. He proceeded to tell me about the workout he just finished across the park with 12 other men. Stairs, burpees, running…it sounded awful, but I was intrigued. Then he told me the guys that were there, Adam Bowman (M-16), Art Packard (Callahan)…I know those guys…Hell, if they can do it then I can do it. The internal peer pressure/competition that has fueled many of my accomplishments in life took hold and I was all-in for F3. I quickly realized it was the 2nd F (Fellowship) that kept me so involved. One of the first and most memorable experiences I had in F3 was a convergence event for TheRock during my first month of F3. I didn't know TheRock, but I heard he had a brain tumor and the men of F3 (#Metro) were having a convergence workout for him. Wow, talk about all 3 Fs in one event, that's what really got me hooked. Not to mention that I realized that I went to college with MRock (lots of small world F3 stories over the past 4.5 years). Similar convergence events for Ikea and Olive further cemented the power and need for men to lock shields and lift each other up. I've got tons of stories and accomplishments I'm proud of thanks to F3 and I hope to keep adding and passing it on. Special T-Claps to @Dredd, @OBT, @Moses, @Outlaw, @Gump, @Gamma, @Dingo, @ManDown, @TheFarm…all F3 men who continually spread the #F3love.
Gamma – via email…As you probably remember, when I started I couldn't run to the front of HCES without doubling over. What you probably don't know/remember is I didn't have the best influences around me (not terrible, just not positive influences), drank a little too much, didn't focus on my family as much as I should have and was in what I would describe as a coasting pattern in my faith. This story probably gets old, but what Moses brought to Gump and what Gump brought to me has been hugely transformative in everything that's important.