The best laid plans can hit a snag…

I wasn’t sure how many cars would be in the parking lot of the Schiele on the Saturday before July 4th. It was nice to see some of the boys from Midoriyama were stretching along with a few others new to the GasHouse. Our circle was a little tardy to begin but no penalties were assessed as Bandit went overtime leading the Third F. Best of all, it was great to see T-Square among us. It is difficult to imagine the emotions circling through his mind with the sudden death of his daughter. He was looking for camaraderie and a slight bit of distraction – GasHouse was the right place for that.

On my fourth Q I was looking for a few things, high calorie burn, elevated heart rate, and mumble chatter from the PAX. What better way to start than to quickly announce 5 burpees on your own. Mayor became irritated. Things were off to a good start.

Warm-Up:

5 Burpees OYO

Up/Downs: SC x 10

Imperial Walker: IC x 10

Toy Soldier: IC x 10 (I think…Q got excited and went with a “Tool Time like” count)

Hillbillies: IC x 10

Don Quixote: IC x 10

Pledge

The Thang:

I made sure to give proper directions before sending the PAX on a half mile run to Sherwood School. Once gathered at the track we ran the Four Corners:

1. Corner #1) CDD’s – SC x 5
2. Corner #2) WWI – SC x 10
3. Corner #3) Dips – SC x 15
4. Corner #4) Merkins – SC x 20
5. Rinse and Repeat

Mosey #2: Dr. Feelgood led us through the back entrance to 1st Presbyterian Church. Showing great initiative, he called out a few high knees and butt kickers along the way. We arrived to the back of the lot, a familiar spot to those that have attended a GasHouse workout, to find neatly arranged tokens by YHC. There were 12 stations where each man would perform 10 reps of the following:

Blockees

• Mountain Climbers
• Stretch Crunch (begin on 6 in crunch position, extend legs and arms out to 6″ off the ground – did I mention you had either a 10 lb medicine ball or a sand filled pvc pipe?)
• American Hammer (with rebar as a paddle)
• Merkin
• Chair Squat (begin in jack position, move legs together as if your sitting in a chair, hold sand-filled pvc pipe at eye level to burn the abs too)
• Flutter kick (in honor of Stroganoff on IR)
• Manmaker (with dumbbells, begin with merkin; perform L/R row; jump to squat and lower with dumbbell’s on shoulder – this was as tough as the blockee, if not more)
• Dips
• Squats (while holding solid cinder block)
• CDD’s
• Plank with side arm raise (while holding a brick in each hand)

YHC failed to mention the run required after every 4 stations – a short loop up the steps and down the back road to the stations. This was quickly Omaha’ed after a few turns and we limited the mosey to up/down the steps. We formed into two man teams to push each other through the pain. I made sure to announce the disclaimer – the standard “I’m an idiot, you’re an idiot…” and just as The Boss began to belt out the patriotic anthem of Born in the USA, Da Vinci tweaked his back. He forged ahead in moderation (hope it’s only minor that ibuprofen and stretching can fix). Originally scheduled for five rounds; YHC realized 8 am was fast approaching and Omaha’ed after two. Time to mosey home.

COT:

Prayers lifted for Godfather and T-Square, as well as for Da Vinci’s fresh ailing back.

Moleskin:

Originally I wanted to follow a patriotic theme and do an exercise per state which would be tough to do in an hour but even more challenging was digging into the lexicon for obscure things (if you’ve done it, you know there aren’t too many selections in the K’s, U’s, or V’s). So I planned each station for 5 rounds at 10 reps each (=50 states) patriotic, huh? Reality was we only went 2, shortening the runs, and didn’t get to any of the Mary I had designed. The best laid plans often hit a snag and we have to adjust whether we like it or not. Life seems to flow that way too and we set foot to a path that we didn’t choose. Thankfully F3 can provide some of the trail-heads and mile markers to keep us strong, physically, mentally, and spiritually. T-Square, we’re here for you brother. Aye!