“You all assume full liability for any damage you do to yourself, physically, mentally and/or emotionally! – MODIFICATE As Needed!”
It all started with a mosey around the parking lot and a discussion of how uncreative I have been with re-hashing the D-Day work out from back on June 6th of this year, the 74th anniversary of the landings at Normandy. I spoke up and said that today was the 100th anniversary of the beginning the Battle of the Selle, one of the last of WWI. So today we’ll go “over the top”.
COP:
SSH x’s 20
Imperical Walkers x’s 20
Windmills x’s 10
Hill Billies x’s 20
Some arm circles and triceps’ stretches.
Over The Top: (they hit the beaches of Normandy @ 6:30AM, so we’ll do 6 exercises – 30 reps each)
After 3 full rounds, mosey over to the school for some people’s chair.
On the wall, 90* and arms out front while waiting on the six.
3 Recovery Burpees
Back on the wall, 90* & Air Presses x’s 50
30 LBC’s
Back on the wall, 90* & Air Presses x’s 75
30 Squats
Back on the wall, 90* & Air Presses x’s 100
3 Recovery Burpees
Mary:
Heels To Heaven – In Cadence to 20
LBC’s – I.C. to 20
Dying Cockroach – I.C. to 20
The Dolly – I.C. to 20
Rosalita – I.C. to 20 (counted in various languages simultaneously and at the same time)
Announcements:
BBQ at the Scout Hut (Troop 276) on Indian Trail Rd. this Saturday 11-6. Help send some young men to Summer Camp next year!
Upcoming Q’s at Conviction: Crypto the 24th, Espresso the 31st and The Wall Nov 7th
Moleskin:
Great effort by all! Way too many Merkins & Dry Docks for some – MODIFICATE as Needed!
Bullwinkle landed with the second wave in the gloom, but better late than never!
Shepherd just doesn’t like doing situps or even CMB on pavement, always seeking out the turf nearby.
The Wall found out how much 6 exercises and 15 parking spots = a big ol’ bucket o’ suck!
And Crypto was plotting his revenge Q for next week.
We all seemed to get our money’s worth this AM!
Enjoyed everyone’s company in the gloom and an honor to lead!
I pull up, first Car I see is Shop, cool, then I park and see Snowflake, cool, Dasher, Frack, Bratwurst, Cool. It was like we got the band back together! I have been doing this a while I have built many great friendships and love all the workouts I get to do and the folks I get to work out with no doubt. That said, this morning was a little reminiscent of the original crew I started years ago with and I was pumped about working out with them, only person we were missing was Ice. We drag him in sometime soon!
WU: Mossy around to the school, 20 SSH, 10 Merkins, 10 MC, 10 wide armed merkins, some cherry pickers and were off!
The Thang: Light pole work, 4 light poles, 10 burpees each one, work back first light 10 jump squats each light. Start again, 20 Carolina Dry Docks. Mosey to the side lot partner up 100 Burpees while partner 1 circles the globe. Done, mosey over to next set of lights 25 LBC at each. Mosey to the last around the school and 10 merkins at each light. Mosey to the lot and finish with 3 wind sprints up the hill.
Moleskin: First of all lets do a quick shout out on the respects, War Daddy- Snow Flake 57! Johnny Utah 53! Shop Dawg 53, The Grease Monkey 50!!!! This was 2.5 miles of high intensity burpees running and mixed in Plank Jacks for active rest, it was not easy and they killed it. They inspire and motivate me every day! Thank you for pushing and showing up every morning, I appreciate you more than you know. Secondly, I am just honored to work out with you all, enjoyed the opportunity to lead, and welcome to Endo to this Crazy thing we call F3
Announments: Goodfella’s got some awesome developing news on a awesome community opportunity- I’m not sure if it is completely public info so ask him about it next time you see him.
20 PAX for a gear workout at a gear AO . . . Imagine that!
With a full dose of Q Juice flowing, YHC woke up at 0315 with all sorts of thoughts of what he could do to his weinke. After much toying with and fiddling around with the weinke, finally got out of bed at 0430. Headed to the new well-lit Five Stones AO to see how I can implement the weinke with as much sleep-deprived anger as possible. SURPRISE SURPRISE, when I arrived at the AO, there was actually gear there to use. Imagine that! YHC had heard some horror stories of this AO only being able to work in aerobic and pelvic thrust exercises.
WARMUP:
THE THANG:
MOLESKINE:
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Thanks to Damascus for taking us out in prayer!
Six descended on the venerable Scout Hut at Matthews United Methodist to work out a few kinks, tweaks and twinges at Gumby.
This was a group of Gumby vets, so, a disclaimer was given where YHC might have yada-yada’d.
Lighting: Regular … YHC was thinking Bambi lamp, but, wasn’t exactly in a stable mindset (more on that in a minute)
Music: YHC’s “Gin Blossoms Radio” on Pandora, which has, thanks to lots of thumbs up/thumbs downs, been algorithm’d to an enjoyable mix of 90s/early 2000s jangle pop and some rock favorites. It’s the large adult son of Pandora stations.
Devotional: From the old classic, Our Daily Bread, a devo on winning and losing. That whole “stable mindset” thing earlier was mentioned because last night, YHC’s flag football team lost in the playoffs. We still have a game left … a consolation/3rd place game … but, not playing for the championship is, well, hard. The devo has a good word on winning, losing and perspective. Now, the question is, how long does YHC stew on the loss and when does YHC actually pay attention to the devo he offered?
Okay, let’s go …
Corpse pose for devotional
Knees up, feet at your 6. Windshield wiper left and right, following your breath.
Hold on the left, right arm out and looking right, then flapjack, hold on the right, left arm out and looking left.
Move to tabletop for some cat and cow. After that, check your 6 with some side bends.
Move to child’s pose, moving your arms to the right, back to the middle, back to the left, then back to the middle.
Up to the top of the mat. One sun salutation lead by the Q, then 2 OYO.
Back down on your back, grab a strap or a rope.
Strap around your right foot, stretch it straight up. Try and get deeper with every exhale. Swing your leg straight down to the right. Bring it back up. Flapjack.
Now, move over onto your left side. Strap around your right foot, then, bring your right leg up for a combo hamstring/inner thigh stretch. This was (1) new (2) led by a Q with bad form, but once the Q said what should be stretched, everyone else was able to get where they needed. Leg down and flapjack.
Up to mountain, 2 sun salutations OYO.
Then a half-SS, stopping in downward dog, right leg up and hold for a 3-legged dog, then swing through to warrior 1.
Move from warrior 1 to warrior 2 to warrior 3 to peaceful warrior to warrior 2.
In warrior 2, face the wall in a star pose, then descend to where your hands are on the mat. A professional like Witch Doctor would tell you to move, flexing each individual vertebrae. YHC is not a professional.
Walk your hands back toward your 6. Then over to the right leg, then to the left, then back to the middle, then back up, moving back to warrior 2. Go to warrior 3, then peaceful, then 2, then 1, then back to mountain.
1 SS OYO.
Go through that whole rigamarole again on the other side. This time, when it came to the star pose, descend, then do the ninja pose, left foot turned up on its heel, left leg straight, sitting back on your right foot. Flapjack, then back up and finish the warrior rigamarole.
Okay, time to sit in the chair, so chair. Then we moved to awkward pose, which is like chair, except your arms are out straight. YHC discovered in his research that there are multiple awkwards ….
Move to awkward 2 (aka “more awkward”) which is the standard awkward pose, but, you are up on the balls of your feet. This will make your legs go into revolt.
Then, move to awkward 3 (aka “most awkward”), which, while still on the balls of your feet and hands out, squat. This is not much better.
Back to awkward 2, awkward 1, chair, recover.
Gypsy chimes in at this point. “That was awful.” Yeah, it was. So, let’s do that again. Repeato chair/awkward series.
Back to mountain, let’s make like a tree. So, get into tree, right foot up, balancing on your left leg. Down. Before we flapjack, let’s keep it in the tree family with a new pose, the palm. So, from mountain, get up on the balls of your feet, arms up, hands open and meeting above your head. Down. Now, standard tree on the other side.
About this time, “Everlong” by the Foo Fighters pops up. If you are a fan of FF, you know that this is typically their closer at a concert. Here is an example from when YHC saw them in ColumbiYEAH last year about this time. So, it’s serendipitous, because we’re in the home stretch.
Move into downward dog, right foot up and through for pigeon. Come out of that, flapjack.
Back to corpse pose, revisit the devotional, then, time’s up.
Counting.
Naming.
–30–
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Gypsy still looking for PAX for Speed for Need at the Let Them Soar 5K on November 10. It is launching from Christ Covenant, home of Skunk Works and Kevlar, and goes through downtown Matthews.
MOLE(burrito)SKINE
Alright, so, yeah, I’m trying not to be grouchy or sulk in the wake of losing a playoff game with a group that I thought could possibly win the whole thing. I am competitive, I don’t like losing, I love winning even more. Plus, I try and take it seriously and put on an air of professionalism for the kids and their families.
Bottom line, losing stinks.
Bottom(er) line, coming up with a quality #weinke when you’re in the throes of that moment is an interesting exercise, especially when I wanted to sprinkle in a couple of new things.
So, the variances on awkward were found in basic Google research last night. The palm pose came as a result of Hurricane Florence. As a proud cord-cutter, I like the options available to have live TV through streaming. Now, during Florence, we had a brief Internet outage on that Saturday (thankfully it came back before the noon kickoff slate), and I was flipping through the network/OTA offerings. On a PBS subchannel, I found a yoga show. Apparently, it is a PBS production called “Yoga in Practice.”
Some of the things the ladies were doing were a little beyond broga, but the palm is one I picked up.
Today, the #mumblechatter was quality over quantity, and centered around two things:
So, there you have it. Another edition of Gumby in the books. Hopefully you left feeling a little better. Thanks to Swiss Miss and Tweetsie for the opportunity to lead. It is a privilege and an honor.
As Mike Tyson is claimed to have said “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face”. I arrived early, ran through the areas I planned to use, then parked the car. Started getting the playlist going only to find an urgent email I needed to answer for work. Once I finish I look up to find a bakers dozen worth of pax giving me grief for having my head buried in my phone. I get enough of that from the M so lets not start that with the F3 crew. As others arrive I notice my playlist is only playing the first song and stopping. Last week I caught wind of a similar technical glitch with Goodfella at Dromedary. I am beginning to think there is an F3 technical bug making its rounds….keep a look out. I look up from trying to fix the playlist issues in time to see a 4 deep clown car filled with one star, boytana, lazy boy, and Krusty (more on Krusty later). Watch check – 5:29, quick disclaimer and then off we go on the pre warned 1/2 mile mosey.
WARM UP
Mosey behind brooklyn pizza, through Chick Fil A parking lot, past the gas station, through BB&T, and back down to target to get our half mile in. Somewhere around brooklyn pizza the music gave out on me again. Unfortunately for me, Deadwood was near and decided then was a good time for him to give me a lecture on how to use You Tube to create playlists. I be honest, I caught about 1/4 of what deadwood was saying but I did hear YouTube and playlist. He might have given me the secret to life but I was fixated on finishing the half mile mosey without dying and trying to fix my playlist issues. As we rounded the corner at BB&T heading to target I notice a large looming shadow coming at us at a pretty good pace. At first I thought we have picked up a late arrival, but then I see the light reflect off the glasses of a much smaller pax behind him and realize that once again, Bread Bowl had to make a pit stop. God bless the patience of Dough Boy and his ability to wait on his son. May I suggest a prerun down the driveway at the house as it always hits him in the first 15 steps.
Circle up at Target (while I continue to attempt to fix my music troubles).
THE THANG
Mosey to back of Target parking lot where there are 6 trees located.
Mosey to Pet Smart (I will add that when I scouted the location at 5:00 this morning, Target was dark and pet smart was lit up like Legalized on a trip to Colorado – yeah, that doesn’t make any sense, sorry Legalized). Anyways, at some point during our opening mosey – target lit up one light and Pet Smart went dark….enough moonlight out that we only had a few run in casualties at pet smart.
Station Work – 4 “weight” stations on the perimeter with a cardio station in the center. 1 min at weights and then meet in the center for 1 minute of cardio. Pax split up evenly into the four weight stations. We preformed two rounds of 4 so 8 total.
Weights:
Cardio:
There was just enough time left to do an AC/DC “ThunderStruck” beat down. Unfortunately my amazon music account still decided it wasn’t ready to wake up. So what do good Q’s do – improvise. What do bad Q’s do….plow through, regardless of how bad it gets. We plowed through with me randomly yelling thunder and Bread Bowl breaking the silence with calls for my head. Merkins on the word thunder, mountain climbers in between. Two “rest” breaks to do air presses. Attempted to mimic the 33 merkins from the actual ThunderStruck song as best I could. We had about a minute left so we finished out with LBC’s.
MOLE SKIN
ANNOUNCEMENTS
15 braved the drive to the Thrive. Some barely made it out alive.
Got a text from Glass Joe last night that his daughter had broken her arm attempting a Yurchenko vault from a 2X12 wedged under the rear bumper of his F-150 at the Unionville Gymnastics and Check Cashing Center last night. Gotta help a brother out, so time to brave the extremely confusing temporary stoplights, traffic cones, and barriers across Hwy74 to lead the brave men of (the real) UC in this morning’s misadventure.
THANG:
MOLESKIN:
It’s been a while since I have posted out in Hazard County. I was surprised to see 14 other guys show up, still a good crew out there. Not a lot has changed.
Two of the young guys were crushing it out there – Full House and Jock Strap. Strap has his VQ tomorrow at Death Valley, home of all things muddy and soccer. Since he was out front on the suicides, I asked him to demonstrate his cadence (which of course he has been practicing). You boys are in for a real treat tomorrow.
Lots of hate for the running out there today. Good . . . Good . . . let the hate flow through you. Use your aggressive feelings. Only then, will you harness the true power of the Dark Side.
– HH
12 PAX fought off the Monday morning blues to run 5 miles at whatever recovery pace meant for them. Bratwurst extended his “show up early” streak for a second week and we were off to the Providence County Club.
THE THANG:
This is the route:
Others on Strava will have a few more thick lines as they were circling back to get me.
MOLESKIN:
When I was #notarunner and showed up at running workout and saw the fast guys there, it was a little intimidating, but someone was always kind enough to stay back and encourage me. Now that I am a runner, no more sympathy for PJ. Bratwurst pronounced that fact when he looked right at me and declared that he did not need to provide short cuts for any of the PAX who were in attendance this morning. This was right before he took off and quickly accelerated to his 6 minute pace with the rest of the fast guys.
Running up Ardrey Kell, using ninja like moves to avoid the trees along the way and seeing red blinky lights far in the distance, it was time to cut thru the shopping center between Ardrey Kell and Tom Short. The fast guys were found. They were shocked to see me. It made them run faster.
As we made a left into the fancy neighborhood, Bratwurst barked out a command. Something about going straight, no turns. But when your legs are already tired and you don’t want to go any further, in your delirium, you think he said “we are all going to walk from here.”
As their pace quickened and their blinky lights disappeared around blind corners, there I was. One headlight.
Each time I thought I was alone and ready to give up, I was able to see, in the distance, a blinky light or a pair of headlights coming to find me. So I kept moving my legs and eventually made it back to base.
Often I think I am alone. Whether it is in my circumstance, my situation or in my struggles. But when I have the faith to go around those blind corners and just keep moving forward, looking ahead, for the people that God has placed in my life to help and encourage me, I can finish the race.
Maybe they know that to encourage me in this season of my journey, instead of running beside me, they have to run ahead of me to teach me that I will never improve or grow without something to run towards.
Appreciate Wingman taking the lead on the broga and One-Niner taking us out.
Thank you for another great Monday morning.
9 fearless fellows started off the week with the DRP and are better HIMs for it. Quick disclaimer and mosey out to 51, down to Jack Hughes park entrance, down the sidewalk and around the big ball field to the main field house. Circle it up for some COP.
COP – IC
SSH x 20
IW x 20
Merkin x 10
Mtn Climber x 10
Low Slow Squat x 15??
Mosey over to rock pile and grab a lifting rock for some upper body work.
Tricep Extension x 30
Overhead press x 30
Curl x 30
With the arms all warmed up we move to the next lot where YHC has set up some stations. Partner up (one group of 3) and get a quick break down on what is going on with all the orange cones, cinder blocks, a garden hose and 1 frisbee.
Station 1 – Garden hose (timer)
Partner 1 pulls fully extended hose to himself (approx 80 feet give or take) and then run it back out to full extension. Partner 2 does LBC. Flapjack
Station 2 – Cinder Block lunge (10 yards out and back)
P1 lunges w/cinder block. P2 does merkins. Flapjack
Station 3 – 6 Cone ZigZag sprints
P1 zigzags the cones and sprints straight back. P2 Flutter. Flapjack
Station 4 – 15 yard frisbee toss
P1 and P2 throw and catch. If there is a drop, 5 Burpee penalty. Successfully complete 10 throws, do 5 Burpees for being Awesome!!!
One time through all the stations and we took a karaoke left and right down the parking lot and then a backwards run down the other side.
Station 5 – Partner Situps
P1 and P2 leglock and do old fashion situps.
Station 6 – Line hop
P1 and P2 stand over a parking line and do single leg (R/L) and double leg side to side hops over the line. 1 hop equals back and forth over the line. Right leg x 10, Left leg x 10 and double x 10.
Station 7 – Cinder block clean and press
P1 clean and press cinder block x 10. P2 burpees x 10. Flapjack
Station 8 – Side step suicides
P1 and P2 Suicide between 3 cones starting in middle. Side step to close cone and back to middle. Sidestep to far cone and back to middle. Sidestep the full distance and sprint to other end. Change sides to get equal leg work.
The group of 3 was the timer for this set. Times up, grab all the wonky gear and head back to launch. Drop it all next to YHC’s 2.0 hauler and circle up for 1 round of mary.
Mary = Heels2Heaven x 15
Frisky Moleskin:
YHC has been a bit preoccupied with various family health issues and was itching to get some “work” in on the ole pavement. When I received the message from Pvt Benji I jumped at the chance to Q. Admittedly I am a bit of a procrastinator and was thinking of various exercise routines last night whilst imbibing beside my fire-pit. I recalled a time not to long ago I pulled the garden hose across my yard and thought to myself, this would be a good workout. So, I brought my hose and some choice cinder blocks and paired it all together with a sprint/agility workout of my own making. Cinder block lunge walk is a real #crowdpleaser. As were line hops. Tag team duo Happy Meal and Tommy Boy were hustling hard. Commish and Side Car were setting off the “Lunk Alarm”. No Show, Pvt B and YHC took the long road with the 3 person partner group. DF and Cobbler suffered in silence. Everyone had the chance to show off their best “Dad” backhand frisbee toss and ultimately lamented the fact I brought all this gear 1/2 a mile from the launch as we picked it all up and took it back. Secretly, I was gauging frisbee talent and the idea of having a Joust like last Monday Ultimate game on the regular at The Big House. I think we can say, providing we get some numbers up, it will be GAME ON! Tks for the opportunity to lead.
Announcements:
Crane Relay is just 2 short weeks away. Check out the Pre-blast for any info. Details
Pineville Fall Festival this weekend – Come support your local F3 community and bring the 2.0s out for some fun.