1-2-F3 Houston Convergence: The 3 F's and the Circle of Trust

by | Jan 8, 2017 | CSAUP, General Post, Houston, Katy, League City, Mt. Houston, Sugar Land, The General, The Hogg, The Yard

On the 1st Day (1-1-11), F3 was created, and the Sky Q saw that it was good. On the 2nd day (1-2-(F3)17), the heavens opened, the thunder rolled, the lighting crashed, and 22 brave Pax took their #DRP to post #InTheGloom during severe weather conditions (no BS…) in honor of the founding of F3 Nation and the 3-month Anniversary of F3 Houston. T’claps men, Iron Sharpened Iron today. #ISI  AYE!

Disclaimer

  • YHC is not a professional instructor #clipboarder. F3 workouts are voluntarily and free of charge. It is important to use good form to complete the exercises, so ask for a demonstration if you need one. Take breaks if/when needed and/or modify exercises if you need to. The goal is to push yourself, but don’t hurt yourself. #YouAgainstYou  Notify the Q of any serious medical conditions. Aye!

Conditions

  • 70° and 98° humidity… yep, that means RAIN… Lots and Lots of RAIN… Oh, and LIGHTNING, and THUNDER. A good reminder that F3 is always held #outdoors #rainorshine #hotorcold

The Thang 

  • Overview of the Founding and Mission of F3
  • Mosey out of the parking lot the back way around the back way to Flood Plain Fields below
  • Circle of Pain
    • SSH x 20 IC
    • IW x 17 IC
    • Merkins x 10 IC
    • Moroccan Nightclub x 17 IC
    • Grass Grabber x 10 IC
    • Toy Soldier x 10 IC
    • LBC x 10 IC
    • Mountain Climbers x 10
    • 1st F Discussion
  • Jacobs Ladder. Count off to partner up.
    • Partner 1 runs up the hill and complete 5 Burpees
    • Partner 2 does Squats AMRAP.
    • Flapjack. Rinse and repeat down to 1 Burpee
  • Mosey to the Duck Pond
    • Along the way: Backpedal, Side Shuffle L/R, Karaoke L/R
  • Running the Rails Circuit x 2 around the Duck Pond
    • Partner 1 runs to the first set of stairs, mounts the railing with hands/feet and Plank Walks down to the bottom, then Bunny Hops across the stepping stones and island in the Duck Pond to the next set of stairs, then walks the rail up using only hands and lifting legs/feet up
    • Partner 2, while waiting for Partner 1 to return, stays in place and does:
      • Round 1: Plank-o-rama – Regular, L/R Arm High, Regular, L/R Leg Up
      • Round 2: Mary – Dolly, Low Flutter, Rosalita, High Flutter, Knee-Ups
    • Flapjack and Rinse-n-Repeat x 2
  • Mosey to the Waterworks 
  • 2nd F discussion
  • DORA. Keep your same Partner.
    • Partner 1 runs across the field and back
    • Partner 2 performs AMRAP of the exercises below
    • Flapjack and Rinse-n-Repeat until the Partners do Merkins x 100, LBC x 150, Squats x 200
    • Plank-o-Rama for the 6: Regular, L/R Arm Out, Regular, Southern/Northern, Regular, Elbows
  • Mosey to the Pavilion for Six Minutes of Mary
    • American Hammers x 10 IC
    • Knee Ups x 10 IC
    • LBCs x 10 IC
    • Dying Cockroach x 10 IC
    • Freddy Mercury x 10 IC
    • Boxcutters x 10 IC
  • Mosey to the Amphitheater 
  • 3rd F discussion
  • Running the Steps Circuit
    • Partner 1 runs down the stairs, across to the other stairs and back up
    • Partner 2 does Dips x 20 OYO and Derkins x 20
    • Rinse-n-Repeat x 3
  • Mosey back to the Eleanor Tinsley parking lot
  • Transition to Circle of Trust
  • After COT, break out the F3 stencils and spray paint to make some Guerilla Graffiti t-shirts #badasserthanhell

Count-O-Rama

  • 22 brave and hardcore men posted. T’claps Brothers! Strong turn out on a Holiday!

Name-O-Rama

  • No FNGs… Unfortunate, but we will chalk it up to severe weather. Too bad because this event was truly EPIC! Let’s ramp up our Emotional Headlocking work brothers! #GiveTheGiftYouHaveBeenGiven Always Be Headlocking #ABH

BoM (Ball of Man)

  • [If you read nothing else in this post, please read this.] Circle of Trust, Ball of Man and Thoughts and Prayers. Every F3 Workout ends with a COT, wherein the PAX form a circle to conduct Counterama, Namerama, Announcearama and the Ball Of Man. During the BOM, the Pax are encouraged to offer TAPs, which is followed by a closing prayer to take us out. The COT, and all it encompasses, are a Core Principle of F3. In my opinion a big part of the “glue” that binds us, as well as a key inspiration for us to grow and share F3 with others. I expect each of you has probably experienced the special feelings that the COT, BOM and TAPs can elicit. These experiences remind us of the deep bonds of Fellowship, Faith and Trust we share. #commonhumanity  When members of the Pax feel safe enough to share openly very private and personal things, we can unexpectedly find ourselves in moments that can be transcendent, humbling and inspiring – reminding us all of our brotherhood and deepening our relationships with each other #Fellowship and our Faith. At this workout, we experienced two such moments:
    • Comrade has been a Pax member since October. Although he done a number of workouts and COTs, it was on this day when he felt ready to share with the Pax that has stage IV lung cancer. We were thankful to hear the prognosis is good. The Pax were strengthened and inspired by your personal courage, positive outlook and resiliency. #livestrong
    • Cruiser spoke emotionally about the loss of a number of his friends to #sadclownsyndrome. Thanks for the exhortation not to let it happen to us, our family or our friends.
    • T’claps to Comrade and Cruiser for sharing. #IronSharpensIron
  • Bishop, Duggar and Beta took turns offering prayers.
  • As a reminder, the #3rdF pulpit is open to any Pax member. You are all #freedtolead, and every leader needs to find his “voice” among other men. Offering TAPs is a great way to do that.

NakedManMoleskin

  • Daily Red Pill. Days when weather conditions are their worst are the hardest to take the #DRP and post. #aintnofartsacker T’claps to the Pax who braved very severe storms for F3 Houston’s first Convergence and survived the 90 minute full body #beatdown
    • New AO – Buffalo Bayou. We selected the Buffalo Bayou/Eleanor Tinsley Park as the AO for this event due to the myriad of #goodlivin possibilities the terrain offered. It lived up to expectations!!! We will be back!
      • Also, we need a #badass name for this AO. Please send us suggestions. 
    • Elevation. Great song by U2, but not so great if it is terrain you have to climb. This AO offers a unique opportunity to work in some elevation training. #gamechanger Running stairs and doing Jacob’s Ladder on hills are great workouts, especially for the upcoming Spartan Race (which always offer #downpainment by elevation).
      • Estimated elevation gain of 300ft during this workout, which is huge by HOU standards.
    • The Deets. Well my GPS didn’t quite function as expected (ok, it was operator error…), so I don’t have exact details. However, I have gotten feedback from a couple of other Pax members with devices. My best estimate for the workout was about 4 miles and 1000 calories. Seems light, but perhaps The Bishop and Duggar talked to much!?!
  • Weather. The Sky Q smiled on us this day. The rain and lightning stopped right around 0630 and the #macdaddy severe Thunderstorms held off until 0820. #TheFaithfulWereRewarded  If you weren’t there, then you missed a helluva storm. The front rolled in fast, with the temperature dropping at least 10 degrees in 5 minutes. Then the heavens opened up, rain was coming down in sheets, lightning was striking almost on top of us, and the thunder #Garth rolled. It was real, old testament, wrath of the Sky Q stuff… Incredible to witness the power of nature! #weBsmall
    • As Cruiser noted, when it rains during the workout, you don’t have to shower afterwards!
  • The Bishop’s 5-year Anniversary. This was The Bishop’s 5-yr anniversary as a member of F3 Nation. His journey began on 1-1-12 at Cherokee (F3 CLT Metro), which was an FNG oriented workout held to commemorate the 1-year (at the time) anniversary of F3 (Born On Date 1-1-11). Special shout out to Girardi for Eh’ing me. #lifechangedforever Also, I need to recognize Dredd (F3 Co-Founder and Nantan) who named me, and to The Colonel Before He Went Tits Up (F3 Original Redwood), who served as the Jedi Master to this old Paduan. I’m very thankful for the leadership of these #HighImpactMen Aye! Looking forward to next 5 with my F3 HOU Brothers.
  • Tardy to the Pardy. There is coming in hot, and then there is Inferno… coming in 20 minutes late (with some very important gear for the event, see below). Better late than #fartsacking
  • F3 Guerilla Graffiti. T’claps to Inferno and Duggar for designing and making the F3 stencils and buying the spray paint for the Pax to make some customized F3 Houston t-shirts. They are #badasserthanhell  Don’t worry, if you missed the event, then we will offer some make-up #artsandcrafts sessions so everyone can have their own. As I said before the event, they will become possessions so prized that our M’s (F3 lingo for wives) will have to pry them from our cold, dead hands (also protected under the 2nd Amendment)
  • Other Highlights.
    • There were a few wipeouts on the Jacob’s Ladder hill and some more near misses at the Duck Pond.
    • Thanks to C.A., aka The Form Drill Sergeant or Sergeant Hulka or The Big Toe, for reminding Duggar to go “all the way down!” on his merkins. #keephimhonest
    • After Mary, it was truly an impressive sight to see a bunch of sweat silhouette F3 logos left on the wood floor. #sweatbranded
    • The Bishop recruited a teenage Cross Country runner, John, who had just finished a 5-mile run to join us Running the Steps. T’claps young man and kick some ass with your running!
  • Looking Ahead. A few of things you don’t want to miss:
    • Spartan Race. Please sign up for the first official F3 Texas (Houston, Dallas and San Antonio Pax) #CSAUP convergence. Quick summary, expect 4-5 miles with 20-23 obstacles, and lots of burpees. See link for more details on the race:  https://www.spartan.com/en/race/detail/1880/overview?filter=sprint  Key info:
      • When: Sunday, May 21, 2017
      • Where: Reveille Peak Ranch |105 CR 114 Burnet, TX 78611
      • Event Q: We need one for the F3 Houston Pax. #leadership opportunity. Who wants it?
      • Registration Info:
        • Event: Spartan Sprint (NOT the Super)
        • Heat: Sunday Morning, 1115-1200 Heat
        • Team Name: F3Texas  
        • Password: Fish61
      • Why: #CSAUP Races are signature events for the F3 Nation. The Spartan Race is a excellent chance to test your Fitness, growth in Fellowship and deepen your Faith (believe me, you will be praying during the race…) Ask any Pax who has done one, and they will tell you that #CSAUP events are their favorite F3 activity!!! #seeforyourself
    • @F3_250. What the heck is this?!? Well, it is a challenge to the Pax to make a personal commitment to working out 250 times in 2017. F3 workouts count, as well as any 30+ minutes exercise sessioin you complete (yes, even with your M if you can last that long!?!). T’claps to Duggar who just completed the #F3twofiddy challenge this week. The Bishop is a Hard Commit #HC for 2017. Time for YOU to step up for your own @F3_250 #accountability
  • F3 COMZ. Because we are only working out together 3-4 hours a week, communication between the Pax is a key way to build our Fellowship as a group. #CommunicationIsKey There are multiple ways to stay in touch:
    • Twitter. YHC highly encourages the PAX to get on Twitter. It’s not a scary as it sounds, and it’s a great source of real-time updates, #MumbleChatter and hilarious (and occassionally horrifying!?!) images from the PAX. If YHC can do it, then trust me that anyone can. Suggested Twitter handle: @F3[F3name]. 
    • www.f3nation.com. This is the key resource for all things F3, but especially for the Backblasts, a written account of a Workout or Event that the Q Posts to a public forum. You can find the #BBs for F3 HOU here: http://f3nation.com/locations/houston-tx/
    • Facebook. F3 Houston has both public and private pages (Duggar can get you access to the latter. It is a great place to look at pics and videos from our workouts.
  • Word of the Day (WOD): CONVERGENCE: A gathering of two or more Groups – in this case, the Hogg and The General Pax members – for a specific Event.

Thanks for posting on a scary weather day! It was an awesome event and privilege to lead. Iron Sharpened Iron #ISI on this day, and the F3 Houston Pax is stronger for it! 

Aye! Duggar and The Bishop #LockingShields