September 4, 2017. Labor Day. My first post @ Devil’s Ridge and I remember it like yesterday. Beautiful Fall morning. Started out with EC pullups (pulls, squats, swings) @ Buehler Trail parking lot. There must have been 10-15 guys out there in the pitch dark. (Note: I couldn’t do more than 2 pull ups in a row back then…I credit this post as the impetus for setting me off on my journey from pull up fraud to pull up god…). Then Juco and Beano led the ME, a campus wide Tour de Force. Finally, a group/fellowship ruck out to Monuts and back. Quite possibly, one of my most favorite F3 posts to date. Top 5 easy. Met so many awesome brothers that morning…Juco, Beano, Soybean, Floyd, Snots, Deep Dish, just to name a handful. I want to say there were close to 25-30 guys out that day. Ever since then, Devil’s Ridge has held a special place in my heart.

It means a lot to me to get the opportunity to come out and lead this morning. I only regret that I wasn’t able to get the full “Devil’s Ridge experience” as I was not able to get out for the EC pull ups. Next time, brothers.

INTRO

Woke up to a post Florence torrential downpour. Still somewhat battling a sinus issue…felt like I had two balloons behind my eyes.

Roads were a fun house this morning. Rain coming down in sheets. Pitch dark. Could hardly see. Lots of water pooling at various intersections and by the shoulders. Hydroplaned at least 4-5 times driving to Duke. First time it happened, somewhere on 15-501, I was probably driving way too fast for the conditions and felt my car shoot sideways. Instinct took over and I went with it. Traction kicked back in, didn’t skip a beat (although my heart definitely skipped a few). Thank goodness for muscle memory.

Finally arrived at the AO to an empty parking lot. Saw a couple flashes in the sky. Checked the phone to see if there was any last minute change of plans. Saw a Sal Pal message. Right on. Soon, saw a couple cars pull in. 3 Strong for EC pull ups this morning. Strong work, gents!

Got out into the pouring rain. Parking lot was a like a flowing river. Saw a group of guys at the far end. Man, Devil’s Ridge is legit.

Greetings/Fist Bumps. We all decided it would be best to move it to the parking deck.

One minute warning. Waited around a bit for any late arrivals.

0530. It’s go time.

WARM UP

Made our way to the parking garage. Water was ankle deep in some parts.

Quick count off. 11 on this fine morning.

Circled up. Got the party started with a Jack Webb Pyramid.

• UP: 8 Count Body Builders, Monkey Humpers (1, 4/2, 8/3, 12/4, 16/5, 20)
• DOWN: Burpees, Air Squats (5, 20/4, 16/3, 12/2, 8/1, 4)

** After getting 5 burpees at the top of the pyramid, Dial Up and TheExchange arrived to bring our total this morning to 13.

MAIN EVENT

Initial plan for this morning was to get out onto the field, however, with the lightning and heavy rains, we decided to take it to the parking deck. Fortunately, the deck was of good size, about 100 yards long. Perfect.

Introduced the first workout for this morning: Bend It Like Beckham. 

PAX line up at one end of the parking deck. We performed the following:

Stage One:

• Bear Crawl 25 Yards
• Perform Hindu Squats, x10 SC, Hindu Merkins (Dive Bombs), x10 SC, V-Ups, x10 SC
• Sprint back to Start
• Perform the following sequence AMRAP until the group is done: 1 SC Tuck Jump Burpee, 1 CC Jump Lunge, 2 CC Mountain Climbers

Stage Two:

• Bear Crawl 50 Yards
• Perform Hindu Squats, x10 SC, Hindu Merkins (Dive Bombs), x10 SC, V-Ups, x10 SC
• Sprint back to Start
• Perform the following sequence AMRAP until the group is done: 1 SC Tuck Jump Burpee, 1 CC Jump Lunge, 2 CC Mountain Climbers

Stage Three:

• Bear Crawl 75 Yards
• Perform Hindu Squats, x10 SC, Hindu Merkins (Dive Bombs), x10 SC, V-Ups, x10 SC
• Sprint back to Start
• Perform the following sequence AMRAP until the group is done: 1 SC Tuck Jump Burpee, 1 CC Jump Lunge, 2 CC Mountain Climbers

Stage Four:

• Bear Crawl 100 Yards
• Perform Hindu Squats, x10 SC, Hindu Merkins (Dive Bombs), x10 SC, V-Ups, x10 SC
• Sprint back to Start
• Perform the following sequence AMRAP until the group is done: 1 SC Tuck Jump Burpee, 1 CC Jump Lunge, 2 CC Mountain Climbers

**We crushed the final TJ Burpee/Jump Lunge/Mtn Climber sequence as a group. Strong.

10 Count break, x2

Introduced our second workout of the morning: Zach Tellier (Modified) 

• Zachary Tellier, originally from Manchester, NH, was a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne, based out of Fort Bragg. He rescued two fellow soldiers from a burning vehicle under smalls arms fire while deployed in Afghanistan. He died at the age of 31 in September 2007 from wounds sustained from the attack.

PAX line up at one end of the parking deck. We performed the following:

Phase One:

• 5 Burpees
• Run (40 Yards, Out & Back)

Phase Two:

• 5 Burpees, 10 Merkins
• Run (40 Yards, Out & Back)

Phase Three

• 5 Burpees, 10 Merkins, 15 Jump Lunges (1-2)
• Run (40 Yards, Out & Back)

Phase Four

• 5 Burpees, 10 Merkins, 15 Jump Lunges (1-2), 20 WWIIs
• Run (40 Yards, Out & Back)

Phase Five

• 5 Burpees, 10 Merkins, 15 Jump Lunges (1-2), 20 WWIIs, 25 BW Squats
• Perform your favorite exercise AMRAP until everyone is done (Planks were called and guys held various plank formations while waiting on the rest).

I reserved the final run as the run back to the StartEx. A couple guys decided to go get the run anyways. Eventually, we all decided to do the out and back run to get the 6.

Workout crushed. Awesome job by all. With a few minutes left for Mary, we decided to run back to StartEx.

Mary

Jack Knife/V-Up Combo, x10 IC

** Apologies as YHC went a bit overtime today. Official endex 0617. I owe you all 2 minutes.

COT/BOM

Announcements

• Rameses 5 Year Anny this Wed (9/19). Note early start time: 0530. Several AOs are shutting down to converge. Check Slack to find out which AOs are still live. EC will likely be 0445. Again, confirm on Slack.
• The Exchange: Picking up donations for those in need due to Hurricane Florence after workout today and @ The Big Dance tomorrow. Shout out to F3 Churham brothers who got donations out to the coast this weekend. Also, if you prefer to donate cash, please go to the GoFundMe site. The response from the Churham region has been incredible and a huge inspiration.

Name-o-Rama

BOM

YHC took us out in prayer. Thankful for the brothers who came out this morning. Just an awesome group of guys. Thankful that our area was spared from the worst of the storm. Although we were fortunate, there are many out there that were impacted and are hurting. Also, as is typical in major storms such as this, the worst is still yet to come for many folks as we deal with the flooding and aftermath. Please reach out and do what you can to help.

Again, honored for the opportunity to serve you all this morning. Another memorable experience at Devil’s Ridge. Hope you all have a great day and a great week. Look forward to seeing you all Wed. Until then, aye!