“I need a second skin. Something to hold me up. Can’t do it on my own. Sometimes I need just a little more help. I’ve got that chance to give, every drop that’s left in me. I need a second skin. Something I cannot break free of.” M. Zapata, M. Dresdner, A. Kessler, J. Moriarty.

I wanted to bring something special that was worthy of the good PAX of Pleasantville. I am not ashamed to admit that I changed my workout plan three times since last night. I hope I made the right choices. As always, I am grateful for my F3 brothers, and the time invested in the gloom. You all are my second skin.

EPIDERMIS

Meet & Greet under the Village Green screen.

1 Minute Warning

No FNGs.

Circle Up. Brief Intro. Quick shout out to brother Wreckless for his virgin boot camp post.

Dash to trailer sitting mid field on the SV Green. SSH, x10 IC.

Dash to SV Green stage. Windmills, x10 IC.

Dash to trailer. BW Swings (KB Swing sans KB), x10 IC.

Dash to SV stage. OH/Seal Claps, x10 IC.

Dash to trailer. Bridges, x10 IC.

Dash to SV stage. High Knees, x10 IC.

DERMIS PRIMO

Run to the top of Brookgreen. Gave brief explanation that we will be doing a “6x6x6,” aka a Beast Escalator. 6 modes of travel to 6 stops. 6 exercises, 6 reps each OYO. We will stack’em as we go.

Lunge walk from top of Brookgreen to halfway point to Copperline. 6 Burpees.

Bear Crawl from midpoint to Copperline. 6 Burpees, 6 Squats.

AYG on Copperline & Brookgreen to Tharrington. 6 Burpees, 6 Squats, 6 Merkins.

Bernie from Tharrington to Copperline & Greenview. 6 Burpees, 6 Squats, 6 Merkins, 6 WWIIs.

Partner up according to weight. Partner A buddy carry from Copperline to mid point up Greenview. 6 Burpees, 6 Squats, 6 Merkins, 6 WWIIs, 6 Tuck Jumps.

Partner B buddy carry from midpoint to top of Greenview. 6 Burpees, 6 Squats, 6 Merkins, 6 WWIIs, 6 Tuck Jumps, 6 Dry Docks.

DERMIS SECUNDO

One PAX asked if we were going to do another loop, which would have been great, but due to time constraints, we would not be able to. Instead, I called for a group fellowship run one time around the same loop we just did.

Except, as I ran down Brookgreen, I felt an increasing gnawing in my belly. I felt a fellowship run around the loop would not be worthy enough for the group out there this morning. Decided to call an audible at the bottom of Brookgreen. Scratch the fellowship lap. Switch to hill sprint suicide. Better. Much better.

Brookgreen Hill Sprint Suicide (25, 50, 75, final sprint to top).

Plank at top as we wait for the 6. Reached out to Stevie Ray for a 10 count.

HYPODERMIS

Mosey back to SV Green. Introduced our next set of exercises. We will be doing (1) Bridge & Tunnels and (2) Pickers & Kickers, then a couple rounds of COP.

Split the PAX into 2 Groups. One on one side of the green, second group on the other, offset.

Bridge & Tunnel: PAX line up, shoulder to shoulder, in bridge/table top formation (Flip of plank). Last man low crawls the tunnel under the bridge, resumes bridge/table position at other end. Performed this exercise until each PAX went through tunnel 2x.

Pickers & Kickers: PAX line up, standing with legs straight + feet apart, forming a taller tunnel. Last man kicks through tunnel in low crawl and resumes position on opposite end. Standing PAX all have arms extended and perform continuous cherry pickers (up/down) while each PAX low crawls. Perform this exercise until each PAX went through 2x.

COP

Had PAX circle up for a couple rounds of COP fun.

Round 1: Burpee Smurfs. Go around the circle, each PAX performs a Burpee with 4 smurf jacks instead of a thruster jump at the top. PAX in circle holds Al Gore (low squat hold with arms out front like they are hugging a tree) as we go around the circle.

Round 2: Wave The Flag (aka ‘Merican Wave). PAX hold plank. Go round the circle, each PAX performs a merkin in quick succession, like we are doing the wave. We went around the circle 10x, changed directions maybe once or twice.

Mary

Backscratchers (on 6, knees at 90 deg, elevate head and back off ground, move side to side touching each ankle), x20 IC.

LBCs, x25 IC

Flutter Kicks, x30 IC (10-20, slow count)

Heels to Heaven, x25 IC

Time called.

BONES & BLOOD

Announcements

LoPair: Shout out to the F3 Churham brothers, including Adolphus & Moore, who went out to Black Mountain/Asheville, NC and crushed the GoRuck Custom Mountain Heavy. 24 Hours, 40+ miles, tons of elevation. Incredible job!

Adolphus: Gave shout out to the F3 brothers from the Triangle who successfully completed the GoRuck DC Star course. Participants had 20 hours to ruck 50 miles. There were many teams who were not able to finish, in fact finish rate was close to 40-45%. Kudos to our own TheExchange (Respect) for finishing and representing Churham.

Encouraged all to check out and sign up for the Go Ruck Chapel Hill Light & Heavy, coming up in early July. Great event put on by an awesome team. You can find details on Slack, including the chgoruck-jul18-tl & the rucks channel. Anyone who can do the F3 workouts can do a GR Light & Tough.

Gave a brief AAR on the GR Custom Heavy.

Moore: Reminder that Pleasantville will be converging at The Thicket on Memorial Day, Mon, 5/28, 0645. Get an extra hour of sleep & an awesome workout!

Name-o-Rama

BOM

First, thank you to Pleasantville for allowing me the opportunity to lead today. It is a wonderful privilege to be out here amongst a fine group of men.

“Pleasantville.” Brothers, are you living a lie? Perhaps on the surface everything is shiny, happy, glossy, but when you truly look underneath, are there issues that need to be dealt with? Do you find yourself putting on a face, going day to day, hiding behind a front? Each and every one of us is guilty of this to a certain extent. There is certain admirably brute honesty that comes from physical pain and suffering. It’s hard to lie when your muscles are burning, your heart is thumping, and you are panting to catch your breath. But how many of us try and pretend or ignore when our hearts, our minds, or our emotions are in a comparable state? Eventually, if you keep it all inside, you may hit the wall. Hit rock bottom. You may not even realize it when it happens. Worst case, you wind up doing something that you sorely regret, or can’t control or take back. We all need a safe place. A place where we can let down our guard, pull off the mask. Find that safe harbor place. Find your second skin. Maybe it’s your home, your family, your friends, peers, colleagues. Maybe it’s your church. Or maybe, it’s right here, amongst your brothers in the gloom. Wherever it is, make it a priority to find that place. And if you have that place, please, make sure to be that place for someone else. It may make all the difference in the world.

Be good to yourself, brothers. Be good to others. Respect yourself and all those around you. Be well. Aye!