Backblasts

AO:  The General

QIC: Lucius

THE PAX:  JAG; Pocket Chicken (DR); Romo; Toolbox; Traveler; Trolley

Seven PAX, including DR guest Pocket Chicken, posted in the gloom to celebrate Sandbag Tuesday.  They performed a series of exercises using two sandbags filled with 50 lbs of play sand (scientifically proven to weigh less than 50 lbs of mason’s sand).  Here’s what the PAX accomplished:

WARM UP: SSH; Windmills; LBACs; Sun Gods; Cherry Pickers; Downward Dog; Cobra Commander

THE THANG:

Sandbag Suicide Relay:  The PAX split into two teams, then took turns moving 50-lb sandbags 10-yards via the traditional clean-and-toss method.  Upon reaching the 10-yard line, each PAX shouldered the bag and ran back for the start, so that the next PAX on his team could take a turn.

Rest exercises for the PAX waiting in the endzone included Merkins, BWS, Plank Jacks; Tree-Huggers, Bonnie Blairs, and Air Presses.

Repeat for the 15, and 20 yard-lines, so that each PAX got 45 yards of clean-and-throws and 45 yards of shoulder carry.  Finish with two rounds of ten single count side-to-shoulder lift and drop for each PAX.

Ring of Sandbag:  The PAX circled up and passed their two 50-lb sandbags from man to man.  After each hand-off, the PAX performed a burpee, then recovered to receive … another sandbag!

 Sandbag Bucket Brigade:  The PAX split into two teams, then moved the sandbags (still 50-lbs) 50 yards via the traditional bucket-brigade method.   After passing off the sandbag, each PAX ran to the front of his team (Ricky Bobby style), to keep the bag moving.

Sandbag Bucket Brigade with Overhead Press: The two teams returned from the mid-field to the end zone, each PAX performing an overhead press before handing the sandbag to his teammate.  Multiple overhead presses per pass for the last 15-20 yards.

Sandbag Pull-Through:  The PAX lined up in plank position, then proceeded to move both sandbags 50 yards via the traditional pull-through method.  Each PAX performed a single-count Merkin before each pull-through.  After passing the second sandbag to his neighbor, each PAX moved to the front of the line (Ricky Bobby style), to keep the bag moving.

 Sandbag Farmer’s Carry:  The PAX took turns performing a 100-yard farmer’s carry with their two sandbags (50 lbs each).  Rest exercises for the waiting PAX included Merkins, BWS, Plank Jacks; Tree-Huggers, Lunge Steps, Air Presses, LBCs, Flutter Kicks, and Freddie Mercuries.

THE MARY:   Having already completed their Mary exercises during the Farmer’s Carry, the PAX ended with a fun game of Bear-Crawl Marco Polo.  No sandbags were used.  YHC lost.

COT:  YHC had the privilege of teaching Sunday School this week, meaning that YHC had the privilege of learning a lot about Joseph in a short amount of time.  Joseph encountered many highs and lows in his life.  He was enslaved, wrongfully imprisoned, named the head of ancient Egypt’s Dept. of Agriculture, and ultimately saved his family from famine. No matter how good things appear—or how bad they appear—change is constant.  Prepare for it.

AO:  The Patriot

QIC: Lucius

THE PAX:   Apollo; Bambino; Bone; Elvis; JAG; Jenner; Lazlo; Maj. Payne; Ozark (FNG); Poe; Pocket Chicken (DR from Nashville TN); Shark Week; Sticks (aka “Styx”?); Three Mile; Two Percent; Villa

Seventeen PAX celebrated the arrival of cold weather with some spirited SSH warm up, followed by a sprint workout on the (mean) streets of Arlington and the Patriot track.  DR PAX Pocket Chicken and FNG Ozark (recruited mid-workout!) joined in the fun.  Here’s what we did:

WARM UP:  SSH; Cherry Pickers; SSH; Downward Dog; Merkins; Six-Count Seal Clap Squats; LBACs

THE THANG:

Route 66: PAX ran between light poles, performing Six-Count Seal Clap Squats at each.  PAX performed 1 rep at the first pole, then added one a rep at each interval until reaching 11.  Total of 66 Six-Count Seal Clap Squats (6-CSCSs ?).

3/4 Mile AMRAP Challenge:  PAX split into teams, then sprinted between exercise stations, spaced 200 meters apart, each team relieving the preceding team.  Stations included AMRAP of: Merkins; Carolina Dry Docks; Plank Jacks; Lion-king squat thrusts (with cinderblock); Cinderblock Curls; Cinderblock Overhead Lunges. The PAX completed ¾ mile of sprints and six exercise stations.

THE MARY:   Flutter Kicks; Box Cutters

COT:  Today’s exercises emphasized forward motion.  As you go through your day, think about what in your life needs a push forward.  Then push it.

F3 The Love Train rolled out of the Vienna Train Station this morning at 0630 with Bone, JAG and YHC. We ran down the W&OD Trail for just over 3 miles and turned around.

Among the many conversation topics, Bone had the brilliant idea of forming an F3 The Capital team for the BRR 2020 (that’s Blue Ridge Relay). I ran it in 2016 & 2018 with some of my F3 Gastonia brothers, and they remain some of my closest F3 friends. Half-way through it in 2016, we all decided it was a stupid idea, we’re 1 & done, and never to return. Moods changed as we crossed the finished line, and within two hours we were all signed up for the next one.

So what do you say F3 The Capital? Are there 12 worthy men to run through the NC mountains next September?

Coffeeteria: After the run we walked to Cafe Amouri to continue the conversation. There we met a family with a newborn and two parents trying to figure out to restart their workout routine. I hope we’ll see the dad soon!

Monk

AO: The General

QIC: Maj Payne

The PAX:
Trolly
Toolbox
2 Percent
Subprime

Sometimes life is easy, and we can skip along through the day without any extra burdens slowing us down. Sometimes though, it feels like we’re weighted down, and life is a struggle. Today in the gloom, the PAX struggled together, carrying a sandbag through the beatdown. And by sharing the burden together, the load was lessened, and the burden didn’t seem so bad. In fact, it was kinda awesome.

Here’s what we did…

WU:
20 x SSH
10 x IW
10 x WMH
10 x Cherry Pickers
10 x BWS
25 x Merkins

The Thang:

Mosey aimlessly on the turf field to a point of no particular importance for a ….

Sandbag drag: PAX form a plank circle. Drag sandbag to right x 3, then to left x 3. This was a bit more discombobulated than expected, working muscles in angles they don’t usually contract.

Pick up bag, and move to Quincy Park baseball field…

It’s escalator time:

10 x Merkins at home base, run to the 1st corner and add 10 x jump squats, run and add 10 x diamond Merkins at the 2nd, run and add 10 x Bonnie Blairs at the 3rd, run and add 10 x wide Merkins at 4th. Finish the loop adding 10 x burpees.

Move to tennis courts…

Animal Crawlers:
1st Gorilla Crawl width of one tennis court, 5 x Merkins, Crawl Gorilla back
2nd Bunny Hop width of two tennis courts, 10 x Merkins, Hop Bunny back
3rd Bear Crawl width of three tennis courts, 15 x Merkins, Crawl Bear back

Pick up sandbag and mosey to the playground for a quick round of…

Pull-ups: 10 x pull-ups for each PAX. Rest in plank for those not conducting exercise.

Mosey together back to W&L turf football field. Time for a quick Mary!

Mary: 25 x flutter kick

COT: Had a brief discussion about faith and what it means in F3.  It’s not necessarily about what each PAX specifically believes.  In other words, we all come from different religious faiths, backgrounds and philosophies, and that’s what makes the collective PAX so strong.  In F3, it’s about believing in something larger than yourself.  The PAX gather in the gloom to be there for each other. All express their faith in different ways, and that’s great. Today, we shared the burden of a sandbag together, and it made the beatdown awesome. Whenever we share the weight of daily burdens with those around us, we contribute to making life better, and that’s what we should always strive to do as leaders!

Aye!