Crawling in bed I was hurting a bit, but excited for my final Q of this 5 day gauntlet. Set 2 alarms to be certain I’d make it up in time for ManMakers… But my subconscious may have been working against me… At some point last night I guess I’d turned my volume down to mute, meaning I didn’t make it out of bed until my wife’s alarm went off at 5:10… whoops. Hate that I missed it, though not sure I would’ve made it through both that and the workout… Hella impressive work from those of you who made it…

Now – to the workout

Did the math yesterday (things you do on summer break) and as of this morning, counting ONLY F3  exercises of this week I’d completed the following:

Staring at this pre-Friday I was filled with pride at how far I’ve come in a year (I wouldn’t have been able to complete 1 of these posts in full last August), yet also a decent amount of dread for the attempt at both Falcon Q + Manmaker EC (only a little upset I overslept…) I am so so amazed by you men who show up 5-6 days a week + EC. Superhumans.

Looking at the data my teacher mindset kicked in and noticed my over-reliance on 1.) running, 2.) the classics 3.) individual work over the course of the last week, so it was time to balance it out a bit…

Disclaimer: Been stuck on a 90s hip hip playlist for a while – House of Pain ‘s Jump Around was stuck in my head – and now it’s in  yours – you’re welcome

Pack it up, Pack it in, let me begin – the warmup

SSH x 10

WMH x 10

SSH x 15

Imperial Walkers x 10

SSH x 20

Good Mornings x 10

SSH x 25

Arm circles x 10

SSH x 30

100 SSH + some nice stretches and we were ready to get going – Mosie to the Traffic Circle

I came to win, battle me that’s a sin – the ME

PAX arrived at the traffic circle in typical Falcon form – with a healthy amount of mumblechatter. I appreciate this about the Falcon and hoped to play on it in what I’m dubbing MAD MAX FALCON ROAD

• If you’ve seen Mad Max, it’s a dystopian wasteland filled with ridiculous looking vehicles and modes of transportation all racing each other for pretty much no reason other than it looks cool and the franchise wins awards
• IN short – I hoped to capture the anarchy/absurd transportation in our own Falcon Road…

As to be expected, there were a solid number of PAX out at Falcon today (25)… More PAX more madness. Partner up – weight does not matter.

The gist – Partner A heads around the track via 1 of 3 designated exercises, Partner B does 5 burpees, sprints to catch Partner A, then switch and repeat until you make your way from the traffic circle around the track to Garret Road

Lap 1: Alternate between Bearcrawl, Crawlbear, and Gorilla Walk

• you MUST cycle through all three, but you can do so in whatever order you want – if you and your partner want to start CB, then BC, then GW, go for it, but you have to do all 3 before you repeat any of them.
• Go back and pick up the 6

Find a new partner – weight DOES matter

Lap 2: Partner Carries, Wheelbarrows, Fireman Carries

• Partner A completes the exercise, Partner B counts down from 10, stop movement, switch – same rules as before apply – must cycle through before doing any transportation twice – modify as needed
• Go back and pick up the 6

Timing was beautiful – 5 minutes to go we yogged back to the parking lot for some Pilates/abs

I came to get down, I came to get down, So get out on your seat and jump crunch around

Bridge Position x hold for 15 seconds

Left Leg high bridge x 15 seconds

Right leg high bridge x 15 seconds

Bridge Position x 15 seconds

On your toes x 15 seconds

Left leg straight out, right leg pulses x 10 reps

Right leg straight out, left leg pulses x 10 reps

On your toes x 15 seconds

V up roll ups x 20

If you’ve got the feelings, jump across the ceiling – COT

Prayers go out for Snots Father-in-law who is currently recovering from a spine surgery, as well as Nails’ wife, currently recovering with a shoulder injury

Word to your moms, I came to drop BOMs:

365 days later – a reflection on the 3 Fs:

Fitness: Coming into this week my wife and I were talking about running and I was whining that I wasn’t getting enough miles in to prep for my upcoming October 1/2 half. She, in her infinite wisdom, responds – “yea, but you’re probably getting more miles in than you think through F3…” and I, in my infinite duncery, responded “I dno, it’s a lot of stationary exercises and jogging between places and stuff, it never feels like we’re actually travelling…” I did the math on this week and with only 5 days of F3 and 3 2 EC stops I covered around 15 miles. I say this to exhibit how much F3 has done for me in a year… This day last year I showed up and couldn’t finish a 100 yard sprint without literally falling on my face, and after 5 days of morning exercises I barely thought twice about covering 15 miles.

In short – these exercises don’t get easier – we get better.

Fellowship: I’ve reiterated this point throughout this last year, but it bears repeating today, one year in. . . I cannot speak enough to the importance of humans finding communities of like-minded individuals in order to push each other, physically yes, but also emotionally. Coming into NC knowing no one, F3 did more than any other group to create a tribe for me – a community I could be proud to be a part of… To summarize: you all have been a definitive part of my North Carolina experience.

Faith: Often the overlooked F, and the one that I feel grinds on FNGs the most when I’m trying to explain this group, it is ultimately the centerpiece of what holds us together even if we don’t often express it. No matter what/who/whom/if you believe in – the 3rd F, for me, is about faith in your fellow human. At a time when it’s hard to look anywhere without seeing the prolific hatred/vitriol/partisanship of 2018 America – F3 reminds me that there is inherent goodness in humanity. That men of all ages, religions, ethnicities, etc can come together in the name of self-improvement with the goal of taking that with us into the world. Faith, at least to me, is about self-sacrifice and putting others above ourselves… thank you all for constantly restoring my faith in that conviction.

Looking forward to the next 365 days – #SYITG

Much love,

SDR