Two Years and One Day ago, YHC was running in Tucker Estates.

Alone.

Lonely like the Wolf.

All of a sudden, a blast from a garden hose that was being used to wash a car made contact…

YHC looks up.

There is HB Moore. You all know him as Splinter.

He motions for YHC to come over and proceeds to strike up a friendly conversation in authentic Splinter fashion.

The question is dropped…

“Have you heard of F3?”

YHC had seen the logo on mutual friend’s, Paul Merritt’s (Moses’) Facebook page, so the curiosity was there…

Splinter proceeded to invite YHC the next morning to Boyd Lee Park for a bootcamp beatdown.

He said he would be at the house at 5:15 and that we would be done and back by 6:30.

No headlock was needed.

It just sounded like fun and Splinter is a top notch salesman.

The next morning came.

YHC was INSTANTLY hooked.

Some fun, boisterous, full of life dude named Papa Smurf nicknamed YHC “String Bean” at the end of the workout

It was such a blast.

The middle school trash talk, the sweat, the fellowship, the COT and prayer in the BOM.

YHC knew right away that this was something very special…

Something sacred…

And me oh my, how dead on that initial thought turned out to be…

Fast forward two years…

So much has happened in the Region.

Hands down, the toughest event was the loss of our beloved Papa Smurf.

YHC wanted to honor Papa at the #AnnyQ and texted Papa’s M to see if there was anyway to pick up the Smurf colored shovel flag that Carterico presented to Papa at last year’s Sasquatch.

Mary Ann called back and left it on the back porch.

As YHC put the flag in the back of the truck, there was just this feeling of being blessed to have been in one of Papa’s Circles.

And those circles sure were wide.

Papa impacted so many, including YHC, so today’s beatdown was meant to honor the way that Papa lived his life.

With a big old smile and super wide circles of influence.

Here’s how it went down.

The Thang

Circle Up and Warm Up

Smurf Jacks x 17 IC

Merkins x 17 IC

Freddy Mercury’s x 17 IC

Circuit Rider was strolling up about this time, so 5 Burpees for PAX

Note- Not sure when we lost Circuit Rider during the beatdown. But he vanished somewhere along the way… Hope he is okay!

Mosey to the middle of the soccer field.

Ring of Fire

YHC gave a shout out to Pied Piper for recent unveiling of “Global Warming”.

PAX gets in a circle and gets into a defensive basketball stance and shuffles in the direction that is called out by the Q.

Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire is blaring on the forearm boom box.

Shuffle during the verses and Mountain Climbers or Plank Jacks during the chorus. Q’s call.

Recover at the conclusion of the song.

Q calls out to Widen the Circle and run the perimeter of the soccer field. One lap.

Note- Duff found an invisible net. Luckily he did not spill his beer. (Only because he was not carrying one.. that YHC knows of :)

Mosey to the middle of the football field.

Jack Webb is called out.

Merle Haggard is next on the play list.

Working Man’s Blues and Fighting Side of Me takes us through a grueling pace of old Mr. Webb.

Recover

Widen the Circle for One lap around the football track

Mosey to the baseball field

Circle up around the pitcher’s mound.

Wimpy Legs are called out

This time Waylon Jennings would bring it home.

Two rounds of Wimpy legs with some defensive shuffles in a circle got the legs feeling right wobbly.

Note: P-Doc would be really hard to score a basket on if he had you man to man…

By this time, Skipper is asking if each song is being performed by Willie Nelson.

It might take Skip a little while to start enjoying the beautiful simplicity of Classic Country ballads.

But he will come around. :)

Widen the Circle and One lap around the perimeter of the baseball field.

We finished up with a round of Balls to the Wall and People’s Chair.

Some PAX took the long way back to the Papa Shovel Flag in a WIDE CIRCLE, and others headed back for a little Mary.

Countdown and Name-o-rama

Prayer Requests

BOM led by Splinter

Moleskin

YHC will leave you with a challenge. Imagine that the AO known as your life consists of 5 Circles.

Personal

Family

Business

Financial

Spiritual

Where are you spending the majority of your time?

Do you have balance?

Do you set goals for each of these circles and have someone holding you accountable?

Do the circles of your life make a positive impact on others and the world?

These are deep, tough questions that may not be easy to answer.

And they are not meant to be answered on our own.

YHC challenges you to look for someone (could be in F3) to hold you accountable in each of these circles of your life.

It will enrich, strengthen, and WIDEN THE CIRCLES.

YHC thanks God for F3 and all of the ways that it has made a positive impact on YHC’s life.

So much more than a “workout group”…

Looking forward to many more years to come.

Love you guys.

String Bean Out