Backblasts

DATE: 2022-05-30
AO: Patriot
Q: Lucius
PAX: Big Short, CableGuy, Ice Tea, Jag, Kodiak, Lazlo, Legacy, Magoo, My Space, Old Bay, Shake ‘N’ Bake, Sunshine, 2 percent FNGs: Attache; Monet; Willis; 12 Point
COUNT: 18
WARMUP: SSH; Cherry Pickers; Windmills; Downward Dog; Cobra Kai; Child’s Pose; LBACs (fore and aft); Michael Phelps; Moroccan Night Clubs

THE THANG:
Lap around track (100 yd Bear Crawl; 100 yd Lunge Step; 50 yd Ricky Bobby Wall Sit CB pass; Bleacher Run; 50x Step Ups; 20x Dips; 50x Step Ups; 20x Dips; Bleacher Run; 10x Chicken Peckers (IC))

Favorite Things: PAX determined exercises by choosing their favorite things (e.g. Dogs v. Cats; Mountains v. Beach; Bacon v. Veganism; etc.). Exercises included 20x: Alt. Shoulder Taps (IC) or Plank Jacks (IC); Hand Release Merkins or Tempo Merkins; Copperhead Squats or Jump Squats; Air Press (IC) or Overhead Claps (IC); Burpees or Burpees; Carolina Dry Docks or Dive Bomber Merkins; Lunge Steps or Body Weight Squats.

Lap around track (50 yd Bear Crawl; 100 yd Lunge Step; 50 yd Mosey; 50 yd Crawl Bear; 50 yd Ricky Bobby Wall Sit CB pass; 1x National Anthem Balls to the Wall)

MARY:
LBCs; Flutter Kicks; American Hammers; Toy Soldiers

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
– Murph Today – You Missed it.
– Picnic Today – There’s Still Time
– Capital Tour 2022 – June 5-11
– Convergence – June 18

COT:
– Moment of Silence.
– Today’s workout focused on life’s little joys – the things that those who served but did not return will not get to enjoy again. This holiday weekend, live life to the fullest in their honor.

DATE: 2022-05-28
AO: Olympus
Q: CableGuy
PAX: Hightower, Roddick, Juneau, Rollingstone, Zeus
FNGs: None
COUNT: 6
WARMUP: SSH, Imperial Walker, Cherry Picker, WM Hayes, Arm Circles, Down Dog, Fellowship lap THE THANG: Pax formed two teams for four rounds of the following: 50 Copperhead Squats IC
40 Big Boy Situps
30 Merkins
20 Bonnie Blairs SC
10 Kraken Burpees
400M Run
Thang 2: Thunderstruck crusher with merkins on ‘thunder,’ burpees on ‘thunderstruck’ MARY: LBC, Toy Soldier
ANNOUNCEMENTS: Murph, Picnic, Tour De AO’s
COT: Empathy – the ability to walk in the other person’s shoes. This workout is in that spirit where we do it all as a team and take turns leading the exercises. Get in the grime with people and meet them where they are. Aye!

DATE: 2022-05-29
AO: Mor-Ruck-Ing
Q: Kodiak
PAX: Old Bay, Magoo
FNGs: None
COUNT: 3
WARMUP: It’s a beautiful day, let’s get moving
THE THANG: Making a brisk rucking pace, the PAX made their way to the Brandymore Castle and scrambled to the top, cut their way to Arlington on Ohio Drive and hiked up a second high point on Minor’s hill; some squats and and additional hill scrambles were added along the way. MARY: Let’s have coffee
ANNOUNCEMENTS: None
COT: It’s a beautiful day; let’s make the most of it.

DATE: 2022-05-28
AO: Sandlot
Q: Maj. Payne
PAX: citrus, Lazlo, Shake ‘N’ Bake, Toolbox, Moneyball, Michael (Bronco) FNGs: Attaché
COUNT: 8
Eight PAX embarked on a secret journey this A.M. at #thesandlot. To believe the feats of epic excellence that occurred, one would have to have actually been there. The following is a very loose account of what happened. Remember, it’s top secret.

WARMUP: Yes, and it included the SSH, IW, WMH, Cherry Pickers, LBACs front, back and seal clap.

THE THANG: Head over the rollbar for some down and backs culminating in a whole lot of Absolutions! Men, this was tough business.

Once finished, back over the rollbar for some traveling. The PAX moseyed here and there and through the Bearmuda triangle. Several crashed along the way, but their brothers were there to pick them up. Well done for this phase.

Cool down included a quick game of F3 Kickball. Bears rules. ‘Nuf said.

MARY: Oh, there’s always something about Mary, and the PAX all participated in a flapjack fashion. H/T @Lazlo for reminding YHC that this was an hour-long workout. Check.

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
1. The Murph 0700 on Monday, May 30. Google Map RAC Field. Pull-up bars are on the tennis courts immediately adjacent.
2. F3TheCapital picnic 1100-1500 Monday, May 30 at Lake Accotink Park. Google Map Lake Accotink Park.
3. The Capital Challenge is coming! 8 beatdowns in 7 days – June 5-11. Watch Slack for deets.
4. And finally, F3TheCapital 4-Year Anniversary Convergence 0700, Saturday, June 18 at Roosevelt Island. Google Map Theodore Roosevelt Island.

COT: Leadership comes in many flavors, and it’s important to stress your leadership skills in different ways. Always look for ways to accelerate your life so that you can become a better father, son, husband, brother, friend or crazy uncle — whatever your role at any particular time might be!

Aye!

DATE: 2022-05-28
AO: Farm
Q: Infinity
PAX: Gekko (Keith Capp)
FNGs: None
COUNT: 2
Warm up: SSHs, Don Quixotes, Cherry Pickers, Air Squats, Merkins, and Chinooks.

The Thang: Sully Community Center
Mosey over to the new Sully Community Center for some parking lot activities – Bear Crawl from first parking lot island to the next
– 10 Burpees
– Bear Crawl from the 2nd parking lot island to the next
– 20 Derkins off curb
– Walking Lung to bike racks
– 20 Australian Push-ups on bike racks

Kickboxing
– 2xJab-Cross-Knee (right side)
– 10 Peter Parker Push-Ups
– 2xJab-Cross-Knee (left side)
– 10 Peter Parker Push-Ups

– 20 Dips off bench
– 10 Squat Kicks, IC
– 12 Derkins
– 20 Step Ups
– 12 CDDs with feet elevated
– 20 Stagger Hand Merkins

Mary: LBCs, Flutter Kicks, American Hammers, Penguin Crunches, Reverse Plank, Nolan Ryan, and elbow plank.

Mosey back to flag

CoT: The Golden Buddha
In 1957 an entire Monastery in Thailand was being relocated by a group of monks. One day they were moving a giant clay Buddha when one of the monks noticed a large crack in the clay. On closer investigation he saw there was a golden light emanating from the crack. The monk used a hammer and a chisel to chip away at the clay exterior until he revealed that the statue was in fact made of solid gold.

The statue was thought to be built in 1,403 and was revered by Buddhist for many hundreds of years. In 1,757 the Burmese Army was invading Thailand. Facing complete annihilation, the Buddhist monks at the monastery hastily began covering their Golden Buddha with clay to make it look of little or no value to the invading army. During the invasion all the Buddhist monks were tragically murdered, but the Golden Buddha was left undiscovered.

In F3 we post in the early morning hours and often ask ourselves, “Who are we really, why am I here and where am I going?”

What this story so eloquently explains is that inside each of us, there lives a golden Buddha of light. Our purpose in life is to rediscover our Buddha for ourselves.

What happens over the course of our life is that we pile layer upon layer of clay over our own Golden Buddha. The heaviest layer of clay is of our own doing – it’s our own ego and it’s limited thinking along with our unconscious conditioning. The other layers of clay get added on from external influences. Eventually we are so laden with clay that we forget that the Golden Buddha is there all the time.

The secret to finding our Golden Buddha, our higher purpose, lies not in the future, but in our past. All we need to do is start chipping away at the clay and rediscovering those things we were passionate about as we grew up. We reconnect with the things that first brought joy into our lives. We recall the times when we were “in the flow” and time stood still. We chip away at our clay at F3 and as we get close, that golden light from within us will once again reemerge.