Too many titles to go with.
Let me start by saying this “new” Pursuit sucks. Especially the Site Q’s.
In my day, there were no Pursuit Q’s, period. You just got told by Tuck what the route was and you go. I got to have the runner’s stench on me, but no one outside of Pursuit would know how not a runner I am. And not in the Paper Jam chrysalis-to-butterfly runner realization crap. The only thing I have in common with runners is the same number of legs.
I could stay in the WAY back, maybe get seen a time or two, meet back at COT with just as much sweat as the others, but do about half the miles. It was working fine.
Now this bastard, Ghosted, becomes a Site Q and goes insane with power. He pretty much bullies me into Q’ing Pursuit literally minutes after being named Site Q 2 weeks ago. He thinks I owe him for Q’ing The Lycan. Technically, I don’t, since I asked him to Q before he became Site Q. #Rulez
But I, too, am a bastard. Like any man trying to get out of doing work, I’m gonna do stuff to piss off gazelles so I won’t be asked to Q again.
Warmup
Run up Millbridge Parkway to the pocket park on the left so everyone can wait on me. As usual, I come out of the gun hot, so Pax wrongly believe I have some extra gear I only use when Q’ing. Not true.
Run to the 2nd entrance of Millbridge to cross into Kensington Place as a group. #WholeNewWorld
KP is a single street neighborhood with nice homes, 1 nice Pax, & 1 hill. It’s also the safest place to run backwards up hill about 3 or 4 times. No cars, no dogs, just #CoronaQuiet and groans of fast people who apparently don’t run backwards?
Top of the cul-de-sac, stretch a little. Dogs, can openers, etc. Most were leery of touching the pavement with their hands.
Run back into Millbridge, first road on the left.
There is a set of 3 blocks that I tried to do a WTF version. Run 1 of the blocks, then 2, then all 3.
Thankful to have Turnbuckle with us, as Chastain’s shin started bothering him & they walked together to the next station.
Run to Kensington Elementary for some Four Corners
(Almost) Always facing Nesbit Park, side shuffle across the short sides of the parking lot; run backwards up one side, front ways down the other.
As we were headed to KES, Robocall was eager to head to the school, but let me know he did NOT want to run backwards in the parking lot. Disappointing gazelles never gets old.
The Thang
Run through the back of KES parking lot to Kensington Rd. We’ve been through 2 entrances of Millbridge; now we’re headed to the 3rd.
Now Brat & Flip Phone finally feel unshackled & take off on this downhill jaunt!
Just inside the 3rd entrance is the Ridgeview paved trail. Run in (MORE downhill) & keep left. What goes down, must come up. And it’s almost all in the last 20 yards of the trail. Stay left to come out the 2nd entrance and make a loop of it. You should have enough time for 3 loops, unless you spend some time in the porta-potty…
Here again, TB saves the day, this time walking with Footlong.
Head back to COT.
Moleskine
I hate being pushed out of my comfort zone.
Great to see Footlong back out after injury. Sad to hear he’s moving to Cary. Fuse was eager to tell him the southern acronym for Cary. He’ll tell you, too, even if you don’t ask.
Announcements
With the promise of new territory never before seen by a Cutty workout, I was able to pull some folks normally not interested in a Posse Q. Unfortunately for all of us, the rain just made it too wet to be safe. So instead, I had to flip to the something old, something new, something borrowed & something blue.
Since the mandatory headlamps would not be necessary for Plan B, we moseyed around the back of the parking lot to let Pax put their light away. But kudos for following instructions & being prepared! Moseyed to the second covering at the front of the Middle School.
Something Old
Partner with someone of opposite ability (if there was a Partner Police, Bottle Cap & Rockwell would be issued a ticket). P1 takes a hot lap & P2 does:
BOMBS
Burpees – 50
Overhead Claps (SSH) – 100
Merkins -150
BigGER Boi Situps – 200
Squats – 250
This is my go-to on a rainy day. The enhanced BBSU is courtesy of watching Flanders do these at Asylum. Start with full extension arms & legs. Hands touch pavement. On the up, keep your legs as extended as possible & touch the bottom of your feet. When I demonstrated, I could hear the indifference that was coming from most Pax. Come around the 75th BB, they start to see they aren’t ticking the reps off as fast. You’re welcome.
Playing the part of Posse today, Rudy joins in around Merkin time to even out the only 3 headed partnership.
Something New
3 short PVC pipes mounted together in a corner. Each Pax takes turns getting 3 playhouse balls to toss into the pipes, ala carnival games. If the Pax makes it, everyone else does a burpee; if he misses, he does the burpee. Pax throwing the balls calls out the exercise for the rest to do while he throws.
Most did their 3 burpees. A few did 2 & had everyone else do 1. I think only 1 person got 2 in the holes. Just what I was hoping.
That PVC thing came to my house just 12 hours prior to this workout! It’s gonna go to my wife’s school this week, but that seems like a great thing to make for an Appetizer/Clyent Dinner kind of afternoon.
Something Borrowed
Motivators
This exercise is done a lot in the Midwest & Northern regions. I learned about it from when I was Zooming in the Gloom a few months back. I can’t describe it, other to say it’s the only exercise done in unison, as opposed to cadence count or civilian count. I don’t think I explained that well enough, because I stopped us on the 3rd round to tell them I was the only person I was hearing. With the case precedence of Wolf v. Homecoming, I knew I was within my rights to start back at the top. This time, many more voices were heard, even with pissiness sprinkled in.
At one point, Chastain starts heading my way during this thing. I can’t tell if he’s looking to do a Kid in Play, Riverdance off, hug it out, or what. Was he wanting me to talk to him in Big Blatin again?
Something Blue
I wore blue shorts with blue lighting tights because the occasion called for it.
Mosey back to COT parking lot with alternating Speed Skaters & Romanian Deadlifts. I sure wish Zin had been there to judge my form. He already has a video of it. Schneider tries to convince Serge to cut a light or two short to make it back to COT (10 feet away) with 30 seconds to spare. I was having none of it.
Moleskine
Lots to apologize for today.
Prior to the start, I was surprised to see Shake walk up. So surprised, I called him Jingles. I was surprised because I can’t remember the last time Shake came to one of my Q’s. I’ve also asked him repeatedly to Q EITHER of the Saturday sites I’ve been a Site Q for, & he’s said no (unusual for him, I know). So I figured he wouldn’t show so I couldn’t ask him again. Since Saturday was Shake’s birthday, most assume he would Q on his birthday, like most everyone else does. That didn’t happen, so I assumed he was taking the entire week off.
Jingles, on the other hand, is a man I admire & miss working out with him. I long for the days when we ran The (1st) Rooster and the trails on Sundays.
And finally, it’s pretty common for people to get misidentified as Jingles. It’s happened to me, too. Ask Fuse.
I apologize for my mistake, Shake.
During one of my runs, I see the juicy booty of O-69 in front of me. I get a windmill going to slap my first piece of meat since going vegetarian last year. Come to find out in COT that both the shock and my hand placement put my man in some pain. I feel horrible about that, too.
The last of our Double Respect shirts were handed out today. We’ve given ones to Penalty Box (he also got a Triple Respect shirt), Blue Screen, & Chainsaw. Today was Draper. A man who’s been heavier on the 3rd F than 1st F lately as he’s recovering from injury (and sickness?). I always enjoy working out with him but didn’t give him the kudos he deserved in COT.
I took us out, but looking back, I could’ve done better, there, too.
Anyone else I miss? Yeah, my bad for forgetting you.
Announcements
Q School – Saturday, March 6 at Cuthbertson Middle 6:30 AM – 8:00 AM
45 minute learning workout & 45 documentation/discussion. A safe(r) place to mess up & ask ANY question you want. Giveaway at the end. RSVP by GroupMe calendar in Playhouse or News channel & choose GOING. Then, for both GroupMe & Slackers, click on this link to provide your email to send you docs beforehand. https://forms.gle/QmMgMUyEW2gHLDkh7
If you don’t know the difference between a starfish & 4 corners; why we talk DiCCS at the beginning; can’t name 2 different Webbs; or know what/who is a 6/Clydesdale/Gazelle, then this is the place for you. Plus, you know that when we do Q School, 1Q is coming soon.
The Rooster – Saturday, March 13 in Rock Hill, SC. 6:00 AM – ya done
Marathon relay for 2 or 5 person teams (women, co-eds & teens are ok!). Each person runs 1 mile at a time for 5 rounds, 5×5 = 25; then ALL 5 run the final mile together. Ruckers will do a half marathon. Here is the preblast: https://www.f3rockhill.com/2021/01/23/rooster-iv/
If you are going to be part of the Waxhaw teams – DO NOT FILL OUT THE FORM. We will create balanced teams to keep everyone together, then submit all teams at once (#Socialism). If interested, but not on GroupMe, DM Bottle Cap to get in on the action. If on GroupMe, choose GOING on the Playhouse or News calendar. Looking to GhostFlag this MF’er!
Prayers for Surge’s niece, Lauren. She was in a major accident & is in ICU.
Station 1 – Mosey around the school to the teachers parking lot
Station 2 – flag near football field
Station 3 – building entrance
(Pair up)
Station 4- bottom of the hill
(Done as a team)
Station 5
COT
Before prayer, Bluescreen took up Zins’s “older than 1988 shirt challenge” and lifted up the outer shirt to reveal an ancient 1983 Chesapeake Light Race shirt! Zin was curious about how Blue cleans his clothes and preserves them. BS says he does not wash his clothes – the secret to long life!
12 Pax & 2 Pax-sniffers break attendance records in record-breaking cold!
I thought sure the cold would keep most everyone away but the Turnbuckliest or Chickeniest among us. Instead, I was astounded with returning champ Pennywise, and site FNG’s Von Trapp, Midriff, Dyn-O-Mite, & Boitano!
2nd week in NW, & Pennywise gets it – rotate around and talk to guys; figure out what you have in common.
People say not to give Posse your phone number or you will be mercilessly EH’ed. I think today proved that letting Das Boot know where you live is even worse. He pointed out where One Star lived. That’s when several told the story of him setting his pool furniture on fire (accidentally?).
But when we got around the corner to Boitano’s house, Das implied that he got more of a commitment for Boitano to join last night. But he wasn’t with us. Following Das’ lead, as the video clearly shows, he & I did monkey humpers at his front door. #NewKnock
Before we made it to the corner, Boitano was outside in his Off My Lawn jammers. He asked how much longer we had, & he went back inside to get more clothes & his 2.0, Emory, as we finished off the last 20 minutes together.
Turnbuckle stayed in the lead today as he didn’t want his fitness tracker to time out on him & potentially not get (digital) credit for this walk. On consecutive day 41, I think?
The Chicken has been quiet this past week, so I was relieved to see him this morning. I didn’t know how this NW thing was going to go, but I was hoping beginning new friendships like I have with CL would be one of the results. We’re at the point where he can answer someone else’s questions about my background before I can. A caring man who shows that he’s listening to everything you say.
Von Trapp started off a little quiet today, as expected when starting something new. But he quickly figured out what was going on and got to chattin’. Want to see you again soon in the gloom!
Midriff – always happy when we get to meet at the same AO. He brought 2/3 of his 2.0’s: Esther was doing great on her bike, while Avery was Midriff’s human ruck. Esther is lucky she got her bike back from me; if those heart-shaped pedals were the next size up, she was going home with a trunk full of nothin’.
Pennywise & I definitely had a pinch of nostalgia as Midriff’s 2.0’s were talking & running with us. The tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap & the stories quickly took us back to when our kids were that age. We didn’t preach to him, “Remember these times – you’ll miss them!” We don’t have to. Today showed that Midriff was fully present for these two. When you do that, there is no regret for the past. You can hold those memories with as much gratitude as you do for the present moment.
So glad to see Dyn-O-Mite out! A current rarity who promised today to be more present at F3. Boosted by our gratitude for him sharing this video, he shared this one in The Playhouse. Yes, those are onions in your coffee.
Next week at Marvin Creek.
8 Pax (or 16% of my graduating class [or 100% of the honor grads]) came out to see what a full 13-year alum of the finest institution in northern Lancaster County could produce on his home turf. While 2nd grade was the toughest 3 years of my matriculation, I was eager to show what I had learned.
The first test was literacy. I put out the word on all channels last night that a headlamp would be required this morning. Everyone passed except Atlas. Playing the loophole that he HAD one, but it wasn’t charged, left me dim. I had a spare for my fellow Sandlapper-educated student.
More questions from my DiCCS:
Who has a cell phone? Fredo answers “In my car.” Sorry, I was looking for “On my body.” That’s OK, here’s your consolation prize.
Who has both the knowledge & desire to save another man’s life using CPR? Now Fredo comes roaring back with that hand flying high!
No question from the Pax as to why one leg of my gray sweatpants had tons of brown stains. I don’t know how to interpret that. Male Pattern Blindness? Don’t ask questions you don’t really want to know the answer to? Y’all have been around Paper Jam, Rudy, & Transporter too much?
The Warmup
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The Thang
Run to the end of the parking lot to get a head of steam to start jumping over the walls up front. I can’t tell if Atlas is happy or not as he reminisces that he would do this with Pebbles back in the day. Further back in my day, we would call this Elementary School “woods”, because it didn’t exist.
This would be the only time Fuse comes in last for the morning. Front of the class for the rest of the time.
Mosey around the corner to the bus lot. Proving that Warriors have an extra appendage somewhere, we see numbers posted 1 – 12. That tells us how many Mike Tysons to do, run to the end & back. Then move to the next number.
Cross the bus lot safely as a group & mosey to the edge of the abyss. Quick callout that we are about to go down a series of steep hills in the dark. We’re heading to the practice field (or as I used to call it, the VIP section of the stadium gravel parking).
There are 8 tires of various sizes lined up along one side of the field. Most have little to no muddy water in them because I have flipped as much of it as will come out; hence the stains on my pants.
Flip it 5 times, then run to the end of the field & back. Repeat until you & tire are on the other side. Pick a lighter, smaller tire & you can flip easier, but you’ll have more runs; a heavier tire is harder, but you run less. Kirby is in his element here. Talks about how he & his coworkers do this for fun. Periscope had unique form on his flip – reach inside the tire & pull. Soft Pretzel excelling on this as well. Roll it back to where you found it when finished.
Mosey to the fully opened gate leading into the stadium; in my day we called it the stadium, too. #Timeless
We ran the bleachers with Gas Pumpers at the top. Take that Weddington! #ABetterWarrior
We passed by the concession stand where I rarely got anything for fear of messing up my uni.
The far left section is where the coolest of the cool sat – the band!
Head on down to the track. Yep, pitch black with no cameras & no fence to hop. Good thing Damascus doesn’t read BB’s anymore.
4 corners with Rosalita, Heels to Heaven, Dolly’s & Flutters.
Lot of memories here: homecoming court riding down in convertibles while the band has to play “Think of Laura” on a loop for 20 minutes; trying to pole vault in the end zone while not clearing a single height so Santini & I end up just wrasslin’ on the mats; running loops on crushed sand (at the time) trying to process my Mom’s terminal cancer diagnosis & death.
Back up the bleachers to get to the (now) HS parking lot. Pick a partner of opposite ability. I’ve had my eye on SP for quite a while now.
Start at one end of the parking lot. P1 runs to the other end & back. P2 does 1 burpee in the parking space, then bear crawls to the next space for another burpee. Repeat until P1 returns. Good times. SP always made sure to get 1 more burpee in before we swapped. #HIM #MABA
Head back along the back road (that didn’t exist) behind the middle school (that was my high school). Under the overhang we paused for a Mountain Climber Medley:
10 MC
10 Dying Cockroach
10 MC
10 Box Cutters
10 MC
Back on the road again. Pause once more for Plank Jacks. Were it not for Fuse calling for Pax to get out of the road because a car was coming, most of us would likely be dead (or injured [or relieved to catch a quick breather]). #No10Counts
Since the car killed our vibe without killing us, I decided to just mosey on to COT.
Still 2 minutes left? Perfect…
“Y’all ever hear of an exercise named ‘The Motivator’?”
Slack-jawed stares (like me watching the Clemson – Ohio State game last week) 🐯
“Learned it doing a virtual workout with either Princeton or Omaha. It seems to be popular in those parts.”
I know I take too long to describe something new, so I just gave the basic descriptions & said to follow along. This is the only exercise I’ve seen that’s not done in cadence or civilian count, but in UNISON. You wouldn’t know it from this bunch, though. Pretty easy to see who graduated valedictorian in his class today.
Das Boot & I have made a vow not to describe The Motivator in print, but to just have it in our weinkie (he got my hint to use the virtual workouts as extra counts for his Passport win [you didn’t think it was odd that he had more posts than we have AO’s?]). I think it went over well because I saw a couple Pax tap out; not out of boredom but because their calves seized up.
When it was over (to the second), Kirbs called me Jane Fonda. Again, don’t know how to take that.
Moleskine
My wish for you is to have an opportunity to share something precious to you with those you love.
Announcements
I don’t much care about getting counted, but my fellow Pax do.
Walking around Das Boot & C3PO’s neighborhood of Hunter Oaks for an hour. There are plenty of SOB & Area51 guys in this huge development, and Das made a valiant effort to get them to show. Zero did show, but Prohibition gave a nod to imply he would be there for next week’s walk through Providence Downs. We did run into
What I notice in these walks is every time a Pax reveals something about themselves that would never come up in a workout, someone else will always reply with an element of “Me, too!” Whether it’s a place they used to live or trouble with their kids, it always reassures us that we are not alone in our struggles, regardless of the struggle. If you feel like you’re the only one going through something, you are believing a lie.
Announcements:
Blood drive: https://teamup.com/event/show/id/yXfKGGqXNMRyeebH1oebB1n8NcJn4j
Habits > Public Goals > Private Resolutions – Be vulnerable & transparent in what you want to accomplish this year. Just like we mock most guys for trying to hit the gym for the first 3 weeks in January & never go again, you fall into the same trap when you make a private resolution. You increase your chances for success by telling others what your goals are for the year. Chances increase further when you put them on this spreadsheet for your brothers to read: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14kBctLBRG1Ii4SPnLHR4dCs8Zoyn9V–6LTfOhoocT0/edit?usp=sharing
It covers all the popular topics: Word of the Year, 1st, 2nd, & 3rd F, Concentrica, & Other. At the beginning of each month, this sheet gets publicized again to show your progress.
I didn’t get everything accomplished that I wanted last year, but I got way more than I ever did in years past when I just did it alone. I’ve read “The Power of Habit” & “Atomic Habits”, so I feel even more confident about breaking these goals down into components that have to be done on a daily or weekly basis to hit that accomplishment.
New AO: Clean Slate in Porter Ridge 630-730. This Saturday has IL’er (even though he lives in Waxhaw) Passport on Q. Yes, he will be driving close to an hour to Q at an AO because he knows the importance of #GiveItAway. Tons of FNG’s to harvest in that area!
New AO: Last Call at Marvin Ridge Fridays 600-645. First Q goes to Goodfella
New AO: Cowbell at PetSmart in Wesley Chapel 530-615. First Q (today) was Ice9 🤮
TL:DR – Earlier this year I had a goal to run a 5k in less than 30 minutes. I accomplished that this morning, but only with the help of many. Here’s how it happened.
The Warmup
As you can see from the sheet, I (and others) had several goals for the year. I encouraged others to look at that list to see where they could help someone else. That help could be in better defining the goal, shared experiences with a similar goal, or help in achieving the goal.
In those pre-Covid months, Chastain would saunter up to me on long moseys, look at his watch and say, “You’re running at a 10:22 pace. You’re going to have to go faster to hit your goal!” At which point, I would slow down like a d-bag. It’s one thing to have a goal; it’s another to be public about it and invite others to hold you to account for it.
I like to run; I’m just not fast. So going to Pursuit for 5 or 6 miles isn’t painful for me. I thought I’d use that & Strava to work on speed & endurance. Overtrain. I was running, but not seeing consistent improvements. Turns out that’s not how anything ever works. Good days. Bad days. Horrible hills. Mental battles. It’s always something.
Fusebox picked up on this goal, too. Instead of running with me at Pursuit, he decided to virtually race me. My best 3.1 miles at Pursuit against his best 5k running through his neighborhood. I lost consistently. Even when I could see he walked sections & I didn’t walk at all.
Started going to the completely unsanctioned Waxhaw Express. Depending on the drill that week, I could feel some improvements. Sections of the workout where I felt a good combo of breathing, stride, & effort. And those times rarely came at the beginning, which told me I had to run up to a half mile before being loose enough to hit those strides. Great crew there, as well.
I had several 5k’s I planned to run throughout the year to gauge my progress. Of course, they all were canceled.
So when the Waxhaw Launchvergiversary™ offered a 5k option, I took it. I was incredibly humbled when Tuck showed up just to run with me. He asked what time I was looking to make, and he set his watch to that pace. When we started, he immediately said, “You’re going too fast!” Something I’d NEVER expect to hear him (or anyone else) say. Sure enough, within 1/2 to 3/4 of a mile in, I slowed way down, & not by choice. And I kept getting slower. I ended with a time somewhere in the 35-minute mark. Chastain also ran this, finished WAY sooner, came back along the route and found me. He tried to speed me to the finish, but I had already mentally given up. I was just trying to not walk.
But afterward, Tuck took the time to talk to me about pacing, which I clearly had never considered. It was why I could start off fast, crash in the middle, and make a small but insufficient comeback at the end. I had to change the way I was running. He suggested Runkeeper as a good app to help with that. I did use it at Pursuit several times afterward. It made it abundantly clear how much my pace would change throughout the run. This was such a gamechanger for my goal.
Then a few weeks ago, Weasel-Shaker-in-training Fuse comes back around, asking how that 5k goal is coming along. Why haven’t I knocked it out yet? Uh, I kinda gave up on it, maybe?
Chastain gets in the mix, too. They had put in the early work to let me know they refuse to let me give up on my goal. Do you have friends like that? How do you know? Have they proved themselves? Or has it been just talk?
Chastain has the fanciest watch of the 3 of us. He’ll be the robotic laser. Fusebox will be the cheerleader, skirt and all.
1st mile goes great; 2nd shits the bed; 3rd wallows in it. Time somewhere in the 33rd minute.
Great! Clearly that proved to them that I need time to train on my own. I’ll notify them later when I’m ready to try again. Probably in a couple of months.
Fusebox looks at Chastain, “So we’ll do it again same time next week? Maybe cut that hill off at the high school?” Chastain agrees. Then they look at me.
“We’re doing this every Thursday until I get it, huh?”
“Yep.”
Fuuuuuuuu……
Here’s where it gets interesting. Now that I know these guys aren’t giving up on me, it becomes clear that I had given up on myself. Yeah, you probably saw that too, huh? I was happy to have a goal, happy to occasionally work on it. But I was tying my identity in the pursuit of the goal. Who am I if I actually ACCOMPLISHED the goal? Then things would change. And that’s scary. I may have to reevaluate how I see myself. But I’m so used to seeing myself this way; it’s just easier if I stay in this “struggle”.
If all that’s familiar but confusing, check out this recent podcast for a better explanation: https://soundcloud.com/artofmanliness/657-why-you-dont-change-but-how-you-still-can
The Thang
This morning, with the help of my friends, & all those mentioned above, I did it. I know there would have been plenty of others who would have happily run with me – in all sincerity – thank you, too. 1st mile was great; 2nd mile was not near as bad as before; 3rd mile was a struggle. I still had mental barriers in mile 2 & 3. I told them how to talk to me, and they did. I told them what does & doesn’t motivate me. And they did it. I hit several WXWXpress strides in different spots.
I wanted to cry, but there was no humidity in the air. I hugged Chastain with a gratitude I can’t put into words. Fuse knows I’m a hugger & has stayed 20’+ from me since we hit the finish line. Even now, I have had to work hard in telling myself that an accomplishment has been met.
Moleskine
Paying back an overdue promise to Rockwell, I was looking forward to using the weinkie I planned to use at Clyent Dinner a few weeks ago. But weather conditions threw most of that out, so I had to come up with some other items.
As we’re getting stretchy for 5:30, I see Waterboy extending a hand to Cargo, whose hands are firmly in his pockets. A shake of Cargo’s head told Waterboy he ain’t shaking. That hinted to me that some gloves may have been left at home for these high 30’s temps. I had plenty of spares in the car for Cargo. Not bragging. Just pick up an extra pair for a Pax. Be a pro. Be prepared.
My favorite part of the DiCCS now is asking who has the knowledge and the will to save another man’s life today. With CPR signups for 11/9 & 11/16 going well, I sense a palpable desire to have more hands raised here. Those who have been recently certified by Karen seem to have more of a swagger when they raise their hands compared to a typical corporate certification. Eager to see what the new guys think in a couple weeks.
Strong Mash crew here, so we take off the back way to make it easy to see who goes where.
The Warmup
Mosey to frontage road (Mad Dog already approved of mosey measurements).
Alternating lights with 10 Smurf Jacks & 10 Imperial Squawkers until we hit the speed bump.
The Thang
Partner with someone of opposite ability.
Point out 3 loops of various distances in front of the high school. Each person will have to do all 3 loops, but they can pick the order. While P1 runs one of the loops, P2 does one of the 3 exercises: Carolina High & Dry Docks (Dry Dock with feet on the bench) | In & Outs | Fire Hydrants (side step up with a leg lift at the end). Exercises also can be done in any order. I picked Wolverine as my partner, but I expected much faster runs on his loops. I know my Q Juice hadn’t emptied out that quickly.
Mosey around the corner to the 1st alcove. “Balls to the Wall until the 6 comes in!” I yell in transit. The group goes noticeably slower. That’s how you keep a group together.
Heels to Heaven \ Rosalita web, but starting at the top. 10 H2H \ 40 Rosies
Recover after 9 \ 36
Mosey to the 2nd alcove
8 \ 32
7 \ 28
Mosey to the lower parking lot, picking a new partner, also of opposite ability.
Start at one island. P1 does a hand release burpee in a parking spot, then bear crawls to the 2nd parking spot for another HR Burpee. P2 is running to the other island & back to relieve P1. Keep going until both partners make it all the way to the next island.
Waterboy politely asks what a hand release burpee is. Unfortunately, I don’t demonstrate because I believe at the moment he’s being sarcastic. I now realize he’s not, so this is my apology.
Some flutters until everyone finishes.
Long mosey to the steps on the other side of the high school.
7’s of Donkey Kicks at the top & Tysons at the bottom of the sidewalk.
Big crowd, so we had to split in half & start at opposite ends.
Lunge walk up the steps. For most, that meant taking 3 steps at a time.
I struggle being able to do these back to back to each other. So spreading them out was something I learned from Honeycomb a couple weeks ago when he Q’ed Homecoming. And it allowed for much better form. I never heard Recal admonish a single Pax on their range of motion.
Most didn’t quite get the full 7 in before we had to head back to the Middle School.
Hang out in front of middle school doing diamond merkins while waiting on the six. Ice9 introduced me to a new definition of Q-jacking when he picked my feet up while I was merkin’ing. I thought he was pulling me into Ignition for whatever Satanic rituals they do to stay so fast.
Jailbreak to COT.
Cargo & Waterboy both ask what a jailbreak is. Once I tell them, they light up, fly off and I never see them again.
Still a few seconds left, so we hit a 6/24 of the web. Learned that from the Ghost Q, Zin.
C2G’ed it. Knowing this will likely be a difficult week for all Americans, I asked God that we be consistently reminded that we are to love our neighbor. Regardless of their political affiliation. When tensions escalate this week, we are called to be peacemakers. If you know someone is across the political spectrum from you, reach out this week and tell them you love them. Find something you agree on and focus on that this week. Both like fishing? Both think Star Trek is better than Star Wars? Neither know what ice cream shoes are?
The only thing that should divide us is whether you clap at the top of a burpee.
Digging in deeper on our beliefs only puts us in a hole. Love is the only thing that’s going to pull us through.
Announcements
5 Men Folk didn’t want to have to hear a 6th Pax yammer on about themselves in COT, so they posted to Homecoming to work instead of talk.
You, too, can enjoy the freedom from speech by posting at Homecoming where no one counts as the 6th Man. **
This was a last-minute Q for me. I’m not blaming anyone. And with threats of rain, I had to make 2 plans: one under the 5 acres of covered porticos OR a daring plan to get to the high school. Why daring? Last week’s Wolverine Q had us pass by the freshly installed gate at one end of the bridge connecting the high school with the (off-limit) athletic facilities. It was OPEN! We didn’t have time to change course then, so I returned this morning to find the gate still open! And there were other gates opened, too! #OctoberSurprise
With seconds to go, I ditched the porticos for a promise of Ol’ Commitment.
The MF’in Warm Up
The Men Five run to the top of the MS entrance
SSH
Only 2 of us with headlamps, so I lead & Das Boot runs the 6 on the road until we get to the gated entrance on Deal Rd.
Imperial Walkers
Run to the gate
Squats
5 trees between the gate & the brick pile – do 2 Open The Gates at each tree each leg
Pick a brick. Different size bricks with different amount of holes. More holes clearly mean more weight has been taken out of the brick, right? Fruit Loop & Das Boot choose the 5 holers & the rest of the Mighty Fit choose 3 holers.
Moroccan Night Club
Bent Over Flys
something else. Das was crying, so we put the bricks back.
The gate to the stadium was open! Ran to the home side.
Down & up each set of steps with gas pumps at the top.
At the other side of the stands, we had to undo any work there by going back through, this time with American Hammers at the top of each step.
Mosey to the concession stand to find the finest wall in all of the U. Where I first learned my Dip, Derkin, Step Up combo. My Fellow Pax, never pass up this opportunity!
Dips
Derkins
Step Ups
Mosey to the bridge with the wide-open gate. It caught me in all the feels – nostalgia, naughty B&E, astonishment, pride. Still have a tightness in the chest thinking about it (could be the angina; not sure).
Bear Crawl across it, like we used to do.
Das, Honeycomb, & FL all go to the same church. Up to this point, they’ve been literally chatting it up the whole time. I’ve been upfront the whole time, but they’re talking like they’re at Neighborhood Watch. Nothing I’m doing seems to make them breathe heavy!
I’m trying to both enjoy & hate these bear crawl moments when lead Mumblechatter Facilitator Honeycomb BC’s up to me & starts asking for the names, ages, genders, & academic affiliations of my 2.0’s. I’m gasping for air, my shoulders are smoked, my hammies are on fire, & you’re curious about my MF’in kids?!?!? I answer, but I don’t remember if I got it right. If he asks about my 38-year-old daughter with twins next week, I probably should correct him.
The MF’in Thang
Grab a heavy running rock.
We started in the middle of the 1st parking row. Do 20 military presses. Then a la Serpentine of Doom, run with the rock to the middle of the next row for 20 more military presses. Continue until we get to the back of the parking lot. The last 2 rows I was saying plenty of words that began with MF. And still, DasFruitComb keep chattin’ it up!
Go back from whence we came, this time, 20 upright rows at each end.
Return your rocks EXACTLY where you found them. WHS tags, catalogs, & fingerprints every rock here in the largest rock pile of Union County (probably the world).
Grab some wall for air presses & pushes.
Mosey back to the bridge where we Crawl Bear it. As if we were never there. Major props to The Boot for being determined to CB the whole bridge!
Tried to take a short cut through the tennis court gates, but they were still locked. Did some fence squats just to emulate some prison time if the AD catches us here in the daylight.
Mosey to the wall for some In & Outs.
Mosey to the 1st tree to Close the Gates on the way back.
Jump Squats at the gate
Mosey to Deal Rd. for Imperial Walkers
Mosey to MS entrance for SSH
Empty the tank back to COT. That was all this Majorly Fast Das needed to release his hounds. Poor thing had been chained up all morning in the back. Now he got to channel his inner chicken run.
Announcements
There’s this cool calendar being created on the side. You should totally check it out: https://teamup.com/ks5u7ww6neyn6uw1g7
It lists ALL the events going on in the 3-5 contiguous regions that are NOT regular workouts. That’s where you can find more info about the following announcements:
Moleskine
Thanks to fellow intra-region Site Q Das Boot for participating today as if he was co-Site Q with me! Seeing what he did in the 1st 5 minutes of the workout told me that I could push the workout as hard as I could knowing he would take care of everything else. Thank you, brother.
Honeycomb’s chatty happiness throughout the workout just got my goat. Before I even took us out, I whipped out my calendar and found the next Saturday he could Q. That’s this Saturday, 10/24. I’m half excited, half scared of what this Mumble & Fit Paxer will do. Clearly more than what I did.
Big ups to Sledge. Making the commitment (not THAT one) to get back on the running train as he continues to heal. So proud of how this man continues to push! I wish I knew more about what makes him tick. But unless he becomes the 6th man somewhere, I’m afraid I’ll never know about this MASH Former Pax.
First time meeting up with Fruit Loop. It became just the two of us at coffeeteria afterward. Normally that would be a source of Massive Fear, I’ve gotten better, but thanks to my Shield Lock, with being willing to go as deep as someone wants to go in 1:1 conversations. It was a great time! Even had a walk by with Showgirl.
After over 5 years, I’m still getting opportunities to grow so I see less MF’ers and More Friends.
**Potential exception: when Nantan posts & there are more than 5 Pax & he talks about it beforehand. Otherwise, you’re good.