Mudfish

Mudfish

Extra helpings were the theme at dinner yesterday. It was a nice Thanksgiving. Different, but nice. Not sure about the rest of the Pax, but YHC needed to put in some good work this morning. Gotta try and equalize the Thanksgiving foodfest. 18 men joined me in the actual gloom this morning. Disclaimer was given and included the obligatory COVID statements about social distance. Voodoo would have approved, I think. Off we went.

Thang

We had 4 stops this morning. Chair plank was called for to regroup after each mosey and finished set.

1. Palatine Hill behind the shopping center we parked at. We did COP there. Several exercises to 10 in cadence. Next we shored up to the base of the hill. Some of us on the steep end and some of us not so much. We did a Triple Nickel with Diamond Merkins/Jump Squats. Flutter x 25 IC, Dolly x 25 IC.
2. Mosey back over through the launch lot, cross 51 at the crosswalk, North on Carmel to 2nd stop. Shopping Center at 51/Carmel. We did another Triple Nickel using the shopping center stairs. Hand Clap Merkins/Heels to Heaven. Mary to regroup. AYG down thoroughfare to McMahon.
3. Rock Pile. Lifting Rock. We did all exercises in civilian cadence to 10. Curls, Tri Extensions, Tea Bag Squats, Overhead Press. Did each a few times with no breaks and rocks in hand for the duration.
4. Mosey down Little Avenue and enter CCHS campus on the back side. Continue to the circular benches and partner up. Partner 1 does 15 Step Up/15 Dip/15 Derkin, repeating, while Partner 2 runs to Stairwell 2 up to Level 4, does 5 Wide Arm Merkins, and back to benches. Swap. Continue to 6 total reps.

Mosey into the bowels of Tartarus. Line up at the entrance. Plank up. Low Plank Jack x 10 OYO. AYG up the full first level. A bit of Mary and then mosey back down the deck and across 51 at the crosswalk. Back to launch. Civilian cadence Merkin set to 10: Regular/Offset Left/Offset Right. Done.

COT

Moleskin

Gotta tell everyone, the 0700 start was nice. Enjoyed the 60 minute boot camp. It allowed for a little more movement around the vast AO.

19 men out this morning. Green Bean was visiting from Atlanta. Chelms came out of semi-retirement. Couldn’t get Shoe to join him this morning. Too bad, we miss that guy. Chopper brought his nephew, Huey, who will be joining the Air Force to serve our great country. He was crushing the workout. Horsehead and Boondocks were site FNGs, surprisingly. A bit more about them later. Cage may have been site-FNG as well. Glad to have him, he was moving well out there. Hops has completed his 1/2 marathon and is now back in the boot camp fold. Sure I’m not the only one glad he is back to posting.

Horsehead was throwing out the zingers before the workout started. He asked Chelms if he cleared the post with the nursing home. Then Snuka showed up to add some fuel to that fire. Snuka told the crew that F3 keeps him young. He is usually out front so there’s that.

Had a chance to talk with Horsehead and Boondocks during coffeeteria. The conversation included custom golf clubs, disc golf, and morphed into fishing. Particularly, we talked about the mudfish. Mudfish refer to any number of elongated fish that are able to survive long periods of drought by burrowing in the mud. Boondocks catches the Bowfin. It looks like a fat snake with a big, strong tail. A lot of fun to catch, and, bonus, you can eat them. Care is needed in preparation due to the many small bones throughout. So, back to the mudfish and the ability to survive long periods of drought by burrowing into the mud. In YHC’s mind, this parallels what we are going through right now. Horsehead provided a reminder to reach out to Pax who have dropped off. A lot like the bowfin burrowing in the mud to survive, there are a lot of people who are “burrowing in the mud,” or socially isolating right now due to COVID. Guys we haven’t seen in a while. We know that social isolation is not a good thing for people. As much as we may like our time to ourselves, humans are social beings. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Love and Belonging comes in right after the basic Physiological and Safety needs in the hierarchy. Current conditions make it more difficult to meet this need. It gets dark early, people work from home and make virtual “connections,” spend more time on the screens and social media. Like Horsehead said in COT, reach out to someone you haven’t seen in a while. Ask them how they are doing. Grab a socially distanced coffee or lunch. If you are feeling isolated and lonely, don’t hesitate to reach out to your F3 brothers. We need to work together.

Lastly, I ask that you include Jennings Palmer in your prayers. He is Bout Time’s son. Jennings battled Acute Myeloid Leukemia and was in remission for 2 years. His sister, Caroline, donated bone marrow and he had a transplant. This week, the Leukemia came back. Please pray for Jennings and the Palmer family.

Thankful for each of you men joining us at Centurion this morning. That hour is like fuel in my tank to get through the rest of the day. Fellowship offered at coffeeteria is always a sweet bonus. Well done today, men.