January 15, 2026
PAX (13): Crabcakes, Whopper, Lincoln Logs, Hungryman, Cheap Seats, Blue Steel, Jake Brake, Barn Door, Tonight Show, Longneck, Boji, Yodel, Hard Hat
Q: Hard Hat
Weather: 18 degrees, slight breeze
Welcome: As guys were rolling in from their vehicles or pre-activities, there were plenty of comments about the location of the cones that many guys noticed as they were coming up to the flags. At 5:30 the PAX were welcomed and we went through the usual intro.
Warm-a-Rama: Dynamic exercises as we made our way to the West wall of the school for the pre-thang. We started with lunge walking, then transitioned to a side shuffle (each way), then finished with skipping.
The Pre-Thang: The Upside Down – The preblast was Stranger Things themed, and as such, I figured we’d do some wall work and put ourselves upside down. Before we got on the wall, we did loosen up our shoulders a bit with 15 IC Overhead Claps. At the wall, we started with chickenpeckers, in cadence, Rancid style. To give our shoulders a break, we did a wall sit, in cadence, Rancid style, down and back. Then we went upside down again with some Balls 2 the Wall. Again, this was in cadence, Rancid style, down and back.
The Thang: Running Up That Hill – I wanted to use the hill for this workout. My playlists have been feeling a little stale lately, and I was feeling some Kate Bush, so that’s the only reason there was somewhat of a Stranger Things theme to today’s workout. On the hill, at the base, there were 4 cones. A little ways up the hill there were two more. We counted off into two groups, because 13 guys with what was planned would be much more difficult. Each group lined up between the two outside cones, so the space in the middle was open. This routine in the old F3 exicon is called a “grizzcalator”. Looks like someone has since changed it, but whatever. In a line, at the bottom of the hill, the guys will do an AMRAP exercise while guys are released to move up the hill. Once finished on the hill, the PAX continue the AMRAP exercise until the 6 is in. The first round of this had the group doing merkins at the bottom of the hill and a Bernie Sanders up the hill. The set of cones on the hill was the release indication for the next guy to go. The first round went well, and seemed like many guys were in favor of this style of workout. Round 2 was a different story though. At the bottom of the hill, the exercise was air squats. On the hill, the mode of travel was the crawl bear. Yes, a crawl bear (backwards bear crawl) up the hill. Yes, this takes a while. That hill is pretty big. I think it’s safe to say that everyone ended up modifying to get all the way up the hill. Thankful that it was over, round 3 commenced with Raise the Roofs at the bottom, and lunge walks up the hill. After round 3, the PAX were told that round 4 would have a twist. Up to this point, the mode of travel down the hill was a jog. Not for round 4. Round 4 had Monkey Humpers at the bottom, Super Mario up the hill, and POW crawl down the hill. POW crawl is where you are on your belly, hands behind your back, and you crawl forward without the use of your arms. Legs get used a lot, and if you want to move fast, your shoulders and torso can be used to help a lot. We had time for a 5th round, so we repeated round 1. Round 2 was awful, so we concluded the Thang and circled up at the base of the hill for some cool down yoga.
Once namaste was called, we moseyed back to the flags for some 6 minutes of Mary. Crabcakes led us in E2K. Tonight Show led us in heel touches. Barn Door led us in gas pumpers. Cheap Seats led us in flutter kicks. Yodel led us in Cindy Crawfords. Longneck led us in boxcutters. Lincoln Logs led us in frozen Freddies. Then Omaha was called, and we wrapped things up. We closed things up with announcements about the CSAUP, halfway house at Bunztown this weekend, and the Gradoville Scholarship event coming up on February 26. We had prayers for Smelly Cat and Ozark.
The COT had nothing to do with Stranger Things. It actually came to me over coffee Tuesday. I was chatting with a guy that asked how things were going with my son. He was at a workout I led early last summer when I spoke about the struggles I was having with my son’s behavior and how we were going to start attending therapy. Before F3, I had more opinions against therapy and counseling. F3 has really expanded my perspective on a lot of things, and this is one of those things. The turning point for me was during a run, years ago with a guy that I have a ton of respect for and consider somewhat of a mentor. He told me about starting counseling sessions with his wife. He said something along the lines of how he pays someone to clean his house, even though they could handle it themselves. If he can pay someone to clean his house, why shouldn’t he pay someone to help make his marriage better. That perspective changed my thoughts about therapy, and when it got to a point with my son where we felt like we needed to do something different, I was open to trying it. Most of what has been discussed in those therapy sessions is stuff that I already know, but for my son to hear it from someone else, in a different way, it helped. I’m very much a guy that is more likely to do something myself, than to have someone else do it for me. I struggle with delegating tasks at work, and similarly at home. I’m challenging myself to find more opportunities to allow someone else to help take care of some of those things that I could be doing, but things may get done better if someone else handles it.
Aye!Hard Hat