Pass it on: The Q3 Challenge

• The Q3 Challenge
  • Any time you do a CSAUP event (GORUCK, Tough Mudder, Spartan, etc), HC to 
    1. Learn as much as you can about your life and the human condition
    2. Q at ¹your home AO, ²an AO you haven’t been to recently, and ³an AO you’ve never been to (or another #2 AO) within three months
    3. Share one of your top three lessons learned in each COT
• THE SCENE:
  • Fog as thick as stew. 32-40*F, depending on when you joined the festivities.
• F3 WELCOME & DISCLAIMER
  
  
• WARM-O-RAMA:
  • 10xIC Side Straddle Hops
  • 10xIC Imperial Squat Walkers
  • 10xIC BodyBuilders
  • 10xIC Inchworms
  • 10xIC Candlesticks
  • 0.2mi mosey around the parking lot
• THA-THANG:
  • Sucker Punch: Unannounced APFT! The perfect finisher for a 6 hour ruck sim.
    • Obvious nod to Cadre Danny at GrowRuck05 in Chattanooga where we started this evolution 10 hours into the event. We somehow dodged this evolution at GrowRuck12 in Memphis. 
  • Early APFT finishers counted their rounds for this AMRAP while waiting for all PAX to complete the APFT run:
    • 5 Burpees
    • 10 Candlesticks
    • 15 SSHs
  • The PAX who completed the most AMRAP rounds was given a pass to skip any one YouQ exercise. It pays to be a winner.
  • YouQ (10 reps in cadence Q’d in a rotating fashion)
    • Squats
    • Mountain Climbers
    • Merkins
    • 6-count Burpees
    • Plank Jacks
    • etc…

       

• COUNT-OFF & NAME-O-RAMA
  • RUCK SIM 20191102: (3 PAX) Farmer, Granola, and Woodpecker (QIC)
  • Eli Grow 8k: (8 PAX): Bailout, Blue Suede (Willie Loman), Dial Up, Farmer, Granola, Gun Show, Tomb Raider, Woodpecker (QIC)
  • Bootcamp: (7 PAX, 1 IG, 0 FNGs): Blue Suede, Billy Blanks, Bootheel, Farmer, Granola (QIC), Tremor, Woodpecker
• CIRCLE OF TRUST:
  • You don’t have to be a professional to make a difference. I coordinated and participated in these ruck sims because I needed the preparation and wanted to create space for anyone to come test their gear (ruck, straps, weight, hydration, and nutrition), minds (teamwork under duress, fatigue, and penalties), and bodies by simulating some of the evolutions from my very limited (but greater than 0) experience. I was just one beggar telling other beggars what happened to me at the for-profit food bank. To butcher another quote, it was my goal to get a lesson to you to get a lesson through you. In Dredd’s words, from the Art of Manliness Podcast that EH’d me to check out F3,

    Most people say, well, this guy doesn’t practice what he preaches. Really the problem we have, my belief is, that it’s men who won’t preach what they practice. Men who are leading these objectively virtuous lives. They’re doing great things with their family, but they won’t talk about it. They think it’s judgmental. They’ve been beaten down into keeping it to themselves, and we encourage guys to go spread that out, talk about it, help other men be that same way. I mean, if it works for you, it might work for another thing. 

    We should be ready and able to relay our lessons learned to and through others who want to do better.

• MOLESKIN:
  • I am very grateful for the fellowship and encouragement of the men who joined me on these three ruck sims
    • Ruck Sim 20191019: Bookworm, Gun Show
    • Ruck Sim 20191026: Bailout, Dawson, Gun Show, Slater 
    • Ruck Sim 20191102: Farmer, Woodpecker
  • It was awesome to have Blue Suede join us from F3 Omaha. I knew he was going to kill the APFT when he talked about how much his region likes to run. Pre-run before bootcamp?!?! 
  • During the sim, Farmer mentioned wanting to continue to improve his already awesome timed run for his USCG Physical Fitness Assessment (PFA). Little did he know that opportunity was waiting for him at the end of the sim.
  • I have already HC’d to Q at the Morg (home AO), Neverland (infrequent AO), and Bingo Hall (unvisited AO) by the end of the year for the Q3 challenge.
  • The hardest part of the sims was the end, when I had to continue to function as a decent human being.