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Great news PAX – We’ve heard from many of you that the newsletter was something everyone likes to see and looked forward to each month. A few guys got together and will do their best to bring you fresh information each month. If you have an item that should be added (eg; upcoming events, signups, or anything the PAX should know send it to southclt+newsletter@f3nation.com and we’ll add it to the next Newsletter).
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Upcoming Events
- Daddy/Daughter Dance at Ballantyne Hotel - March 1 from 6-9 PM. Age range 5-13; must RSVP at markthismoment.com by February 26. Proceeds go to fight human trafficking. Email Gator Cub for more details.
- Rock Hill Rooster - March 2, 7a Start - Marathon Relay - https://www.f3rockregion.com/2019/01/16/the-rooster-ii-its-back/
- RunJenRun 5k - March 3, 8a Start - The 6th annual RunJenRun 5K is at 8 AM on March 3rd at Symphony Park. There will be an F3 workout in front of the stage at 7:00 AM. The race is followed by a family friendly festival with live music and FREE beer. https://runjenrun.racesonline.com/
- Joe Davis Run – March 9 – Sign up. https://joedavisrun.racesonline.com/register – There is even an option to sleep in for the cause. #noexcuses
- Dash for Down Syndrome 5k - Speed for Need is bringing 4 chariots to the Dash for Down Syndrome 5k at Blakeney on March 23. Rubbermaid is your Q, looking for runners & event volunteers. Contact Rubbermaid for more details.
- F3 Boone – F3 Boone is in the process of launching. Official Launch date is March 23, but we are holding pre-launch workouts every Saturday morning at 6am before then. Details here: https://f3boone.wordpress.com/ and Twitter at @F3Boone.
- Operation Sweet Tooth 8k - March 30 - https://latinimemorial8k.racesonline.com/register - 8K, 2 Mile Walk, Virtual Runner options available.
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Welcome FNGs!
16+ FNGs since last newsletter. Welcome!
You guys can find a ton of info in the section Helpful Links at bottom of newsletter.
Honey Do, BossHog, Mr. Magoo, InkBlot, Chicken Wing, Triple Lindy, Punch List, Unicorn, Poser, Fiji, Illiterate, AirDrop, Chunky Monkey, Tourniquet, Dash, RedSoup
You vs You Workout
Many of us want to get out in the Gloom every day, or at least that’s what we tell ourselves. Some of us actually seem to do it. We don’t. It’s pretty much impossible to be out every morning: travel, #fartsacking, #smartsacking (intentional rest days/sleeping in) and life in general can prevent that. With 15 minutes or less, though, you can still give yourself a pretty good workout even by your lonesome. Each newsletter, I will post a mini-WIB that you can do within the confines of your bedroom, basement, hotel room or home gym.
10s: For time (that is, as fast as you can), 10 push-ups (chest-to-ground), 10 sumo squats (touch the floor with your hands), 10 dips (using a chair, desk, etc.), 10 mountain climbers (double count), 10 flutters (double count)...x10 rounds.
Friday Marketing is All About Posting Saturday…Maybe
In the beginning of F3 in SOB there was a Saturday AO that quickly became very popular, it was named Stonehenge. By popular, I mean it was often swollen with 30+ PAX. Einstein bagel became an impromptu Second F where PAX met to talk, eat and create Fellowship. After a couple years of growth someone decided 30+ was too much and in true F3 fashion, another Saturday AO was born. DaVinci grew out of the F3 ashes to become the second hot Saturday AO. Well, almost… DaVinci was a little closer for A51 PAX sure, offered a little different variety of course, started a little later (who at F3 REALLY sleeps in on Saturday) and brought several of the leaders from Stonehenge to lead and bring their talents as Site Q. Surprisingly, little changed at Stonehenge, still filled with PAX seemingly unaware of the “other” AO down the street. Changes had to be made; soccer was affecting the 7:00 start and back then Starbucks breakfast offering was terrible (who doesn’t love pound cake at 8 AM). More big league and Site saving decisions were made; change the start to 6:30, Aye! Move the location to the new Blakeney Chick-fil-A, Aye!
Fast forward to today – DaVinci survived and Stonehenge continued to flourish, both sites easily surpassing 15+ PAX nearly every Saturday. Really good leaders have taken on the Q challenge, many leading back to back Saturdays.
So if you log into Slack on a Friday afternoon, or even follow on Twitter, there’s some pretty crazy phenomenon on the SOB channel. It’s come to be known as “Friday Marketing” day. Forget about posting anything important on Friday, it will quickly be buried by memes of the next Q, gifs of people eating chicken rather than bagels or everyone’s favorite, the occasional rap lyrics generated by one of the Site Q’s. There’s been some pretty incredible Photoshop going on too, who knew Madame Tussaud makes a good Indiana Jones or Mermaid actually looks like, well a mermaid.
Tune into the Slack SOB channel the next Friday you want to kill half your workday, you will most certainly laugh or at least smile. And don’t forget the main reason all these antics are filling up the page – everyone wants you to just get out there and post; even Outland, RockZero, Commitment or Ascent are great choices (even if their marketing isn’t what it could be).
#StoneHenge #DaVinci
How This Group Brings Men Together Through Sweat and Prayers
Recent Men’s Health article on F3. Men become fast friends in this free, early-morning, guys-only workout class that’s exploded in popularity. Read More
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Backblasts With Most Tclaps:
Backblasts With Most Comments:
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WasNow - Shake N Bake
What I am now, is not what I was then.
Before F3, I was 268 pounds. It was February 15, 2017. I was at my desk answering an enormous amount of emails before getting to my real work. I stood up and instantly became dizzy, the kind of dizzy they portray in movies. I fell back into my seat asking for my co-workers to help me. I just knew something was wrong. I had a painful headache, dizzy, and felt sick to my stomach. I finally made it to the nurse who took my blood pressure, which was sky high. I’m sitting there freaking out saying to myself, “You finally did it fat boy, you’re having a stroke at 34.”
I finally calm down and started to feel better. My co-worker took me home after being cleared of not having a stroke. Later that night as I started to walk upstairs, I became dizzy again. I fell down the stairs in front of my son. The Wife said that’s it, and off to Urgent Care. It was the longest 10-minute drive ever. The mind can go to strange places so quickly.
So, after a series of tests from the doctor I found out that the dizzy spells were vertigo (I know, very anti-climactic). I had a sinus infection which caused the vertigo, to my understanding. That was enough for me. A switch flipped inside of me, it was time to change it all up. This was the wakeup call/kick in the pants I needed; it could have easily been something really bad. I decided then that I will not die on my Wife because I didn’t want to get off my butt and sweat. I definitely did not want to miss out on playing outside with my son, his sports games, graduation, and wedding one day because I can’t stop with the burgers. I instantly started eating better, but it was not enough.
I prayed, really prayed, for a solution. I looked at gyms, but I really wasn’t liking the vibes. On February 18, 2017, just three days after my adventure, my Wife and I went on a date. We dropped our son off to a friend’s house to play with his little friend while we were out. When we came back to pick our son up, I started a conversation with my buddy. He was telling me about the treadmill he just got and his plan to get in shape. He then started to tell me about a workout group he was a part of. I’m literally rolling my eyes at this point; I’ve been there before. My buddy (Slingblade), laid it on thick. As my Wife and I left his house it was on my mind heavy. I spoke about it with my Wife and she said, “Just go and give it a shot; worst case scenario: you hate it. And who cares - it’s free!” I was praying for a solution and one was plopped right into my lap. I asked for it, take the initiative!
So there I am, February 21, 2017. Slingblade picks me up and gets me to the park a little before 5:30am. The workout starts and it is brutal. I am getting flashbacks of football and track practice. I am loving it at this point. I am hooked. A bunch of great guys looking to do great things within this group and community. I kept waiting to find something wrong with this, but it never happened. It’s true, you come out for the workouts to get in shape, but you keep coming for something much more.
So, was and now. Here we go.
WAS: I was 268 pounds on my way to possible strokes, heart issues, diabetes, or not making it to the age of 60. Haven’t ran over a mile in over a decade. A man mad at himself for how he looked and allowed himself to become lazy. A person struggling to deal with pressure from work and life. Someone in need of an outlet physically, socially, and spiritually.
NOW: I am now between 215-225 pounds. I’ve ran 5K’s, 5K’s while pushing chariots with people in them, 10K’s, run 3 miles before workouts, and now just finished my first 10-mile run (more on that in a second). I now have a positive outlet which makes things better at work. I have more energy at home which is a plus. I’ve found a new confidence in myself that I lost long ago that I did not know that I lost. One of the most important things is that I have a new spark in my faith, but I didn’t do all of this by myself.
The looks from the Wife is a good one, too.
The 10 Miler was a great experience for me. I surprised myself in more ways than one. As I trained for the 10 Miler, I completed 10 miles in a hour and forty-five minutes as my fastest time. I set a personal goal for myself to finish the 10 Miler in a hour and a half to really push myself. I'm proud to say that I finished the 10 Miler in a hour and 27 minutes. Top of the world for me. Then I took a look at my Strava app. It reads as follows:
- 10-mile Personal record: 1:26:50
- 15k Personal record: 1:20:44
- 10k Personal record: 52.32
- 5k Personal record: 25.15
- 2-mile Personal record: 15.56
I started the race only wanting to beat one goal, I finished the race beating 5 of my goals. The last mile was the hardest for me. If it wasn’t for Gypsy coming back for me, and Madison and Benny pushing me, I would not have done as well. Knowing they were out there rooting for me was a big present.
The best moment was meeting up with my Wife and seeing her being proud of me and my son wanting to wear my medal. It was all worth it at that moment. I never would have believed back in 2017 that I would be running a 10-mile race.
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Regional News/Highlights
Can’t Hurt Me
There’s been a lot of hype out there about David Goggin’s autobiography Can’t Hurt Me. So I went out and downloaded a copy to the Kindle app. I’m like one of those hipsters that eschews an actual book. I should grow a beard.
If you have a chance to take a look, it’s certainly an impressive story. David grew up with an absolute tyrant of a father. The kind of man that when someone finally shoots him dead you wonder why it took so long. After his mom moves him away at a young age, he continues to struggle with demons: poor grades, few friendships, illiteracy, obesity, etc. After hitting rock bottom again and again, he decides to commit to change. Certainly a few bumps in the road, but he goes on to be a Navy Seal, Ultra Marathon champion, Pull-Up world record holder among other astonishing feats of strength and mental fortitude. The man is a certified bad-ass.
However, here's where I differ from much of the praise. While an entertaining read, I really struggle with putting David on some pedestal with traits to emulate. For the better part of his adult life he was narrowly focused on his next physical challenge and ability to endure whatever fear and pain possible to complete a mission. Now for the record, I have completed a grand total of zero psychology classes in my academic career (I have much respect for those that have) and it's fairly evident that I am not a professional, but that's not going to make me shy away from an opinion on his emotional state. When Goggin’s was a boy he took some pretty severe beatings from his dad. He learned to escape it by mentally and emotionally shutting down during each episode. He was able to create a barrier in his mind enabling him to suffer unimaginable pain and yet keep moving forward in life. He was able to carry that skill into the icy cold water of BUDs training, and again while running 100’s of miles on stress fractured feet and yet again while facing renal failure during a 100 mile ultra-run he complete on one weeks’ notice. There’s more insane physical feats, but you should read about them.
I would argue this trait, of blocking out all emotion and pain, to achieve the physical goal gave him one dimensional in life. The book only lightly touches on the fact that he’s been married and divorced twice (now married a third time.) Barely has a relationship with his brother. Never discusses anytime he has spent with his children. He also doesn’t discuss any real involvement with his community outside of his military colleagues and fellow endurance competitors (and those guys mostly just talk about exercise goals and achievements). His mother is his only consistent relationship in his life.
David Goggins has no balance. He may not have chosen to be that way. He’s a product of the environment he grew up in, but he has no balance in life.
How does that relate to the men of F3? I do encourage you all to set personal goals and accelerate to achieve them each and every year. The goals related to 1F are always easy to quantify or measure in time or distance. A completed marathon, a sub 8:00 pace, or a smaller relay team. Other types of goals in 2F and 3F are much harder to quantify, and maybe you shouldn’t worry about quantifying them, but you shouldn’t neglect them. Some periods in your life are going to require an undivided attention on one thing, but it can’t be the same thing all the time. It can't always be the next race. Let 1F be a part of your life. Not your life. Don’t get caught in an endless loop of always going farther or faster this year than you did last year. Eventually it becomes all-consuming in time and energy. Energy your M needs. Energy your 2.0’s need. Energy your career needs. Energy your community needs. Energy your faith needs. Your goals should be balanced across all 3-F's
So what does that mean and how you set your personal goals for 2019? Maybe this year you forgo shaving a few seconds off your race pace and instead focus on other goals in other areas of your life. Set a goal to coach your 2.0’s sports team. Maybe you jump in and become a leader in a non-profit. Maybe you put that extra effort in to achieving a promotion. Maybe you make it a point to reach out to a brother you haven’t seen in a while and grab lunch with him. Maybe you knock a few things off your M’s to do list, the ones she stopped asking about thinking you were never going to do them. Find a 2F or 3F goal that takes a priority in your life.
You can still maintain your 1F, just don’t always put it First.
- Alf
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QSource
QSource is the “integrated expression of F3’s leadership philosophy. It is our leadership manual”
Each week you have multiple opportunities to join in on the discussion and improve your leadership skills. If you are interested, check the schedule here http://f3southcharlotte.com/schedule-app/qsource/ and join us or check out the #qsource channel on Slack.
Here is what is coming up in the next few weeks:
Week 7 – Get Right – DRP (The Daily Commitment to Accelerate Fitness Fellowship and Faith)
Can you do it alone? Do you treat your commitment to getting right like an amateur or a pro? Are you laying Bricks each and every day to build the Guardrails that let you accelerate faster and faster?
Week 8 – Get Right – King (The Daily Discipline of Physically Training the Body)
Why must fitness come first? What are your reasons for exercising? Will they sustain you when it gets hard? How do you get faster/stronger/better? (Hint: the answer is simple)
Week 9 – Get Right – Queen (The Daily Discipline Over What is Put Into the Body)
Is exercise alone enough to get you where you need to be? Can you do it on your own? Where does Accountability come into play?
Week 10 – Get Right – Jester (The Temptation of the Flesh that Hinders Acceleration)
What’s your personal Jester? Will F3 or QSource or your church or anything else make you immune to it? Can it be conquered?
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Helpful Links
IT/Comz Concerns
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