Nothing like an unreasonably cold morning and an equally unreasonable amount of Merkins to shake off the New Year’s Eve hangover. 3 PAX met for an early morning Ruck, 2 continued at 0520 and 1 joined 5 additional PAX for EC Pull-ups. 22 total PAX, including a great showing from our brothers out of Pleasantville, rang in the New Year right at the Main Event.

Warmup:
SSH – IC x 15
Imperial Walker – IC x 10
Slow Merkin – IC x 10 (YHC was informed that this may have in fact been a medium Merkin, speed was essential to keep warm though)
WMH – IC x 10

The Thang:
Today is a great day for celebration. We celebrate a new year, and an opportunity to start some things fresh again. For the F3 community we also celebrate a birthday today (2 in the case of this group, more on that later), in fact we celebrate the 7th birthday of F3. Seven would become a recurring theme today.

The first exercise group was what YHC likes to call the vicious circle. The parking lot at The Thicket served as our track and the island in the middle made our circle. The PAX began at one end of the lot and the exercises and movements were as follow:
-7 Burpees
-Bear Crawl to midpoint
-14 Merkins
-Crab Walk to far end
-21 Squats
-Bear Crawl around bend
-7 Burpees
-Crab Walk to midpoint
-14 Merkins
-Bear Crawl to near end
– 21 Squats
– Crab Walk around to start
This was repeated for another half lap.

The PAX then took a leisurely mosey to the playground where groups of 3 were formed (the numbers were uneven, so YHC performed the below as a continuous circuit). The following rotation was performed for 7 minutes with the PAX on Merkins/Squats serving as the timer.

PAX 1 – 10 Merkins and 20 Squats
PAX 2 – Deadhang or pullups
PAX 3 – Mountain climbers

The PAX then executed a more vigorous mosey back to the AO, some sprinted. They were a little ahead of the curve as sprints were next. All PAX sprinted the length of the parking lot 4 times with a jog back.

Before Mary YHC wanted to address a message sent the previous evening regarding another F3 birthday. Fingers was celebrating and YHC thought birthday Merkins might be in order. The birthday boy led us in a count of 43 Merkins. Happy Birthday Fingers!

Mary:
Outlaws – 10 left/10 right
American Hammer – IC x 20
Rosalita Whip – x10
High Plank with a Grunge 10 count (this was a very long, cadence style, count as only Grunge could do!)

COT

Announcements:
Convergence at Thin Blue Line followed today at 7AM.
Pull-up Challenge started today. 90 days from the day you register to complete as many pull-ups as possible. More info on the channel #the-pull-up-challenge.

BOM
As we enter resolution season and everyone looks for motivation YHC wanted to share the words of US Navy SEAL David Goggins. He tells us that motivation is “crap,’ because it comes and goes. We should strive to be driven, because when you are driven to do something you will break through walls to accomplish your goal. As we start 2018, lets all bypass motivation and find something that drives us, be it in fitness, family, community or any other healthy endeavor.

As always, it is an honor to share the gloom with you men, and a privilege to lead.