Conditions: Crisp, invigorating, 33 degrees

Warm Up

SSH, Willie Mayes Hays, Slow Merkins, Good Morning

The Thang

Mozy to bus parking lot where YHC enlightened the PAX with some history of Bob Ross. My F3 name Happy Trees is derived from my vocation as a creative director at a large church in chapel hill. This is my VQ. The workout was divided into two evolutions based on the two different lives lived by Bob Ross.

Evolution 1 – Air Force – Master Sergeant

Bob Ross spent 20 years serving our fine country as a member of the Air Force. He was stationed in Alaska for 14 of those years and found his love of painting at a class he took at a local USO lodge. To represent this part of his life the PAX got to do a Dora. We paired off and while one partner ran to the second cone, the other partner got to work on the reps. 81 WWII, 100 Air Dramas, 200 Chinooks. The total reps (381) represent the number of paintings that Bob Ross painted live on his show. No one was happy about this.

Evolution 2 – It’s Your World

For anyone who has had the pleasure of watching Bob paint it is pretty clear that he wants you to do what feels right on the canvas. It is also clear that Bob has an affinity for small woodland creatures. He opened many a show with his pocket squirrel, Peapod, featured sucking on a tiny bottle, enjoying his lunch. (it was noted that Peapod, and Pocket Squirrel are amazing potential F3 names) The Q taught the PAX a new exercise, the Squirrel Scamper, which is exactly how it sounds, similar to bear crawl but arms and legs move together in alternating fashion. The PAX were encouraged to stop briefly and look up to check their surroundings while doing said exercise, much to the amusement of YHC. The course for this evolution was three cones arranged in a triangle about 100 yards apart. The PAX mozy to the first cone, and the Q picked a PAX to name an exercise. Once complete the PAX mozy to the next cone, with a different PAX calling out the exercise. We made two complete trips around the triangle doing the following exercises. 12 Burpees OYO, 24 Mountain Climbers in cadence, 12 Merkins – Single Count, 24 Butt Kickers OYO, 24 Flutter Kicks in cadence, 24 LBC’s in cadence, and 12 Jackies OYO (the Q had never heard of this as it was mentioned by one of our guests from another region. It was basically a burpee with a plank jack at the bottom and a SSH at the top. Delightful.) One more Squirrel Scamper to get us back to where we started.

At this point it was revealed that the PAX had completed their very own painting using GPS tracking. The evolution movements combined to make a giant tree viewable in ones Strava feed or whatever app one uses to review GPS workout data. See example below.

COT

Mozy back to AO for COT to discuss the F3Nation mental health and suicide awareness day. (#F3mentalbattle) All PAX Q’ing today were encouraged to take extra time to raise awareness about this aspect of men’s health. It originated out of F3Louisville and you can learn more by checking out this podcast. YHC shared about his personal journey with mental health and attempted to encourage the PAX that just like going to see a doc for a knee injury, seeing a mental health professional for help is just as wise. We discussed having each others six not just in fitness, but in life. Two other PAX shared from their personal experiences and how F3 has made a huge difference in the way that they think and see themselves. Though particularly challenging to address such a huge issue in such a short amount of time; all around it was a fulfilling and encouraging moment.

YHC took us out in prayer and ribbed the site Q (tatertot) with his new knowledge of F3 terms and lingo that the aforementioned site Q failed to instill in his new PAX. On a personal note my VQ today is in response to my choice to no longer do anything passively. If I am going to be involved in something it will be active involvement or none at all. This last year has been one of many moments of discovery, and F3 has been one of the most significant. Thank you for the honor of serving you this morning, and I look forward to sharing the encouragement and hope that I have gained with others as they join on their journey. SYITG. Happy Trees out.